Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

Preceded by: Lethal Weapon (1987)
Succeeded by: Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Detective Martin Riggs	Mel Gibson
Detective Roger Murtaugh	Danny Glover
Leo Getz	Joe Pesci
Arjen Rudd	Joss Ackland
Pieter Vorstedt	Derrick O'Connor	-
Rika van den Haas	Patsy Kensit	-
Trish Murtaugh	Darlene Love	-
Captain Ed Murphy	Steve Kahan	-

Review

Mel Gibson returns as Martin Riggs, his most iconic and affectatious character – the very definition of 1980s action-hero extravaganza. This sequel picks up so effortlessly where number one left off that we're not sure we're actually watching a different movie. New screenwriter Jeffrey Boam just throws in a few new bad guys and a fairly clever political angle, and off we go. Richard Donner's slick, routine direction and Gibson's star-power does the rest. Whenever the film strays into a somewhat more profound and emotional territory, it yanks itself quickly out of it again, and you realise that's just how it's supposed to be. We're not supposed to feel or think, we're just supposed to be entertained. And Lethal Weapon 2 delivers on that by being just about clever enough that you don't start resenting it.