Richard Donner is often known as the man who brought Superman out of the comic book page and onto the big screens all over the world. However, that’s not all that Donner did, in fact, Donner had been working in the industry for almost 20 years before he even touched Superman as intellectual property. After the Superman fame, Donner went back to basics, and from that came Lethal Weapon. A film that was true to its name, and a buddy cop film for the ages, something that will be remembered as an iconic piece of blockbuster cinema that brought in a tide of new content!
How to Stream or Download Lethal Weapon
To stream or to download the film from a digital store, click on the Download button located at the end of this review. If you want to see more films with Danny Glover, check out also Saw III, Saw V, and 2012. And if, on the other hand, you want to see Mel Gibson – watch Braveheart (1995) or The Patriot (2000).
The Movie Review
The main thing to note about Lethal Weapon is its fantastic plot, following a severely depressed detective and a veteran of the law working together to uncover the lethality of a massive drug trafficking ring. Detective Martin Riggs’ wife recently passed away, the grief has brought an excessive emotional reaction out of him, making him a quite reckless police officer who wants nothing else but death. However, when veteran detective Roger Murtaugh is forced to partner up with him, his recklessness will be the death of them both. As the two detectives must band together despite their differences if they want to take down the largest drug trafficking ring in Los Angeles!
The first thing that makes Lethal Weapon such an absolute classic is the fact that this film does not hold any punches. For an eighties buddy cop film, this film showcases some very distasteful subject matter but in a way that doesn’t feel offensive even by today’s standards. In fact, it chooses to focus on the relationship between the two characters, and how they’re dealing with the larger-than-life scenarios that they keep finding themselves in.
The characters are oftentimes distraught by what they’re seeing in their work, and the banter between the two is written flawlessly.
However, on the other hand, the film does not feature any memorable acting. The two characters played by Mel Gibson and Danny Glover are at the forefront of this picture, yet none of them manage to encapsulate the severity or the bizarre nature of their predicaments.
It’s a bit disappointing, knowing how big of a classic this film is, with some of the most iconic dialogue in film history. Though I do appreciate the performances just enough that the film is enjoyable despite them being simply acceptable at best.
I don’t enjoy the cinematography in this film though, that part I really do not like at all. The film is insanely bland-looking, with little to no texture, uniqueness in its color palette, or even any exciting camera angles. It’s a very poor-looking film, which is why I don’t really enjoy it from a sight-seeing standpoint.
The cinematography is simply uninspired, or perhaps even worse than uninspired. I appreciate the visual effects work, and the practical effects, but those are only acceptable during the action sequences, and fall flat throughout the rest of the film as it was an eighties action movie.
The one thing that I can appreciate about the film though, is the spicy soundtrack that is prominently featured throughout the entire film. It’s a pure eighties soundtrack, mainly relying on that glam rock guitar vibe that we all love, along with those classic drumming patterns that we can’t get enough of. The overall soundtrack is great in both the action scenes and the more somber moments, however, the best part about the soundtrack is the main theme, which is just insanely beautiful!
The Bottom Line
In summary, I really like Lethal Weapon, I feel like it’s a film that matters a lot, especially in today’s climate. This was the first film that brought to notice actors such as Danny Glover on a much larger scale than ever before, to audiences they hadn’t reached before. It does so swimmingly as well, with a decent story, a great cast of characters, and a wonderful soundtrack, not to mention some great action. It’s bogged down by a few problematic qualities such as the level of acting and cinematography, making the film fall a little short of what we expect.
