Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Lethal Weapon’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

The 1980s were truly a magical time for cinema. For not only did they bring about an outright revolution in special effects, since the blockbuster dominated the decade and took our breath away in the process, this is an era of cinema that also found ways to reinvent the old and bring about familiar concepts that were quickly embraced by audiences. After all, this is the decade where the old adventure serials were given new life by way of Indiana Jones, and seeing a concept from the 1940s find new footing in the late 20th Century, allowed for a bevy of screenwriters and directors to offer up unique new twists on older ideas, with mixed results of course.
 
Because some of these stories were nothing more than stone cold cash grabs that really went nowhere when all is said and done. But there were still some wonderful ideas to be explored as the decade began to wind down, courtesy of a previously unknown screenwriter named Shane Black. Because this young man wondered what would happen, if someone took some of the buddy comedies that enjoyed great success in the late 1970s and early 1980s and combined the best parts of those stories with concepts from gritty crime dramas and the Noir that permeated the landscape of Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s. And the end result of this experiment was nothing short of brilliant since Lethal Weapon quickly became a motion picture that was beloved by all.
 
Now if you’re reading this particular review, you’ve seen this movie, probably quite a few times. Which means there’s no need to talk about the plot in the slightest. Instead, it’s best we examine all of the wonderful elements that went into this script to make it so memorable because it really is one of the finest police stories ever assembled and the first real way it accomplishes that accolade is by way of its characters. For Riggs and Murtaugh really are the perfect odd couple, but rather than be as quirky as the same characters who shared an apartment on television, these two are as human and as relatable as they come. For we’ve all been like Murtaugh, where we are desperate to find balance between our personal life and the things we love, and we’ve all felt the unbridled rage at the world that Riggs felt, when we’ve suffered some serious hurt. 

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​In fact, I would venture to say that this is one of the first times in modern cinema that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is portrayed in realistic fashion on the silver screen and Mel Gibson does a phenomenal job of giving us a Martin Riggs that is desperate to find meaning in what he does since everything that ever mattered to him, has been taken from him. Yet that level of depth realism and character wise is extended far beyond our two leads since this dynamic duo are forced to deal with quite the gritty case, one that unfolds in organic fashion and one that works well within the Christmas setting for the film. And oddly enough, that holiday backdrop also helps to add to the realism present in this film since it serves as a harsh reminder that crime never really takes any time off and bad things happen during the Yuletide season as well.
 
Yet I made mention of the fact that this motion picture resurrects a sense of Noir and that’s honestly something I didn’t notice was present in this story until recently. Because the perfect blend of humor and action (more on that in a moment) help to disguise the fact that gritter elements are present here. But when you examine the story closely, you see that this movie takes the time to show us a Los Angeles where two sides to the coin exists. Take for example, the opening sequence of the film. Wherein the beauty and grandeur of L.A. is put on full display, only to have that façade shattered when a young woman dives from her high-rise apartment, high on tainted drugs. Plus the mansion scene also backs this up since we are treated to an environment that should exude peace and tranquility, only to have it disturbed by violence in the extreme and it just fascinating to see a modern motion picture provide its audience with a dynamic such as this, one that shows us a seedy underbelly to the city of Angels.
 
However, while all of these elements are fascinating in their own right, the final ingredients that make this movie so successful, are its action and comedy elements. Because the action sequences are breathtaking and intense and the comedic moments are outright hilarious in their own right, something enhanced by the natural on-screen chemistry between Danny Glover and Mel Gibson and truly, this movie is just a delight. Because it’s intelligent and thoughtful and it features a quality and gritty story through and through, and most of all… it’s just plain fun. And this motion picture did such a good job with the example it set forth, that so many tried to replicate its magic after it arrived with little success and their failures can be attributed to one thing; you simply cannot recreate the magic of an instant classic. 

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