Lethal Weapon Review

Buddy cop films have, thankfully, died out almost completely. It feels like only yesterday I was sat in stunned silence watching CHiPS, but I have indeed recovered from that torture. The 20th century was a time of greatness for the tag-team duos to make their way through the streets of America. Lethal Weapon is not just one of the most well-known, but retrospectively the best the genre had to offer. A rag-tag teaming of a suicidal, manic officer and a veteran of the field who’s closer to retirement than he is to any form of promotion or fresh chance in the field of police work. 

Pairing up characters initially at odds with one another is a tired formula, one that we still see today. To make it work, the characters need to display at least some interest in one another. Thankfully, Lethal Weapon provides a marvellously entertaining duo that put most other efforts of the genre to shame. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover have some delightful chemistry with one another, and although their performances don’t exactly exude confidence or depth, they do indeed showcase effective entertainment value. Glover’s quips and Gibson’s frankly insane nature go hand in hand nicely. 

As expected, Gary Busey’s inclusion leads to some scenery chewing moments, perhaps the best scene of all being where he shoots a television playing A Christmas Carol and yells “it’s Christmas”. There are moments like that throughout Lethal Weapon, humorous moments that keep the film from getting too grounded in the dreary aspects of its plot development. Director Richard Donner’s ability to balance these moods is integral to the success of Lethal Weapon, which feels like a satisfying yet endearingly enjoyable tale of teamwork from the very first moments. Its ending doesn’t make a lick of sense, but I suppose every 80s action movie had to end with a fistfight amid a fire hydrant explosion.  

Good clean fun all round, a bit tatty around the edges, but at least there’s heart to most of it. The final act really struggles with its predictability and my interest was beginning to wane, thankfully it’s over soon after that. Busey and other co-stars feel remarkably important, yet detract from the leading duo in a way that feels counterproductive. Either way, Lethal Weapon has more than enough energy to provide a superb experience for newcomers to the action genre. Good set-pieces throughout held up by solid writing and some strong performances.