Lethal Weapon 2 (DVD, 2000, Director's Cut)

Mel Gibson and Danny Glover reprise their roles as destructive LA cops Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh. Also returning is the brilliant direction of Richard Donner, who weaves his combination of clever humour, rip-roaring action and well-placed emotion between friends to make all three work on a balanced scale. Obviously, the film is basically a saturday night action picture for all those action movie junkies out there, but Donner puts something resembling a plot into the film that makes it just that bit much enjoyable. So sit down with a big bucket of popcorn, a six-pack of Dr Pepper (my personal choice) and enjoy the sit through nigh-on two hours of blistering action that never fails to amaze, shock and surprise.
Life-on-the-edge Riggs (Gibson) and stable family man Murtaugh (Glover) are back for a frantic second adventure that sees them pitted against a gang of ruthless South African drug smugglers, led by evil foreign diplomat Arjen Rudd (Ackland) and his cold-eyed henchman Pieter Vorstedt (O Connor). The film jumps straight into the action that sees Riggs and Murtaugh in pursuit of a two cars that have been 'stolen'. The chase ends up with two of the cars thieves escaping by helicopter and the other flipping over and ending up crashing through a shop's window. After the contents of the trunk are revealed to most of the LAPD, Riggs and Murtaugh know that the heat is back on, only this time turned up a notch.

While only wanting to bring Rudd and his Krugerand empire down, Riggs and Murtaugh are ordered to babysit Leo Getz (Pesci), who has been in business with the South Africans and tried to extort half a billion dollars from them, the favour is returned later in the film by Leo being brutually tortured by Vorstedt's gang of henchmen. Obviously, a film of this calibur wouldn't go with out a little bit of romance, and that's put in by Riggs falling for Rudd's secretary, Rika Van Den Hass (Kensit) who also takes a liking to Riggs's destructive personality. The film then ends the usual hollywood way, two men, heavily outnumbered by loads of thugs and henchmen armed with heavy weaponary, guess who comes out on top.

Overall, Lethal Weapon 2 does deliver on the fronts of action, humour, excitement and emotion, but fails on the romantic and one liners fronts. But then again, who needs romance in a movie wehen you have gun-blazing action to keep you company. Surprisingly, this is the worst in the series, but it still gets 5 stars for delivering the action sequences that made the series so famous.