Prior to watching this, the only experience I had with any Lethal Weapon movie were the 'sequels' made in the TV show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. While these short sketches are absurd, they did prepare me for the actual movie, in a way. For me, on the surface, Lethal Weapon was shaping up to be a generic buddy cop movie, but it soon showed me that it was a lot more.
Straight away the premise of this movie drew me in. Both Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) are polar opposites when it comes to police work. But that's a given in buddy cop movies. No, it's the depth that's given to both characters. Murtaugh is an aging family man, ready to find a solution at the first inclination of an answer. Riggs is volatile and suicidal after the death of his wife and will take down crooks regardless of his own safety. It's amazing that this movie was allowed to show just how close Riggs is to suicide, showing him putting a gun in his mouth multiple times.
This is a great movie for Gibson to show off his talents (although I was unsure if he was doing an Aussie or American accent, he was just beginning his Hollywood breakthrough). I have also identified it as a turning point for his insanity in real life. Another person with whom this movie correlates with their real life insanity is Gary Busey, who plays psychopathic mercenary Mr. Joshua. It just goes to show that playing a psycho on film can sometimes bleed over to real life. Also another bit of trivia, this isn't the last time that Glover and Busey would appear in a movie together, they also play opposite each other in (my favourite Predator movie) Predator 2 in 1990.
The only problem that I have with this movie is the soundtrack. The jazz saxophone that is played throughout genuinely made me laugh. The mix of soft rock, jazz and orchestral score may have worked in 1987, but it doesn't really work today.
Verdict: A pretty deep action movie that has some decent acting, it's a shame about the soundtrack.
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