There are a lot of reasons to rave about "Lethal Weapon 2": the comedy, the action, the plot, even the music. I'm sure all of these things have been highlighted before so I'd like to highlight something different.
"Lethal Weapon 2" was one of the rare American movies that had the courage to address South Africa and apartheid when it seemed like every movie focused on Russia as the bogeyman. Not that Russia wasn't a major nemesis, but South Africa was getting a total pass. To be honest, as a country we were too cozy and comfortable with South Africa considering what they were doing. I really appreciated LW2 putting South Africa on blast like they did.
Politics aside, LW2 was a fabulous follow up to "Lethal Weapon." The addition of Joe Pesci was just terrific. His character was great comic relief and he complimented Murtaugh and Riggs so well. LW2 was a remarkable model of how to make a sequel: keep your core, add a nice complimentary character, and vary the plot. A simple equation but effective.
"Lethal Weapon 2" was one of the rare American movies that had the courage to address South Africa and apartheid when it seemed like every movie focused on Russia as the bogeyman. Not that Russia wasn't a major nemesis, but South Africa was getting a total pass. To be honest, as a country we were too cozy and comfortable with South Africa considering what they were doing. I really appreciated LW2 putting South Africa on blast like they did.
Politics aside, LW2 was a fabulous follow up to "Lethal Weapon." The addition of Joe Pesci was just terrific. His character was great comic relief and he complimented Murtaugh and Riggs so well. LW2 was a remarkable model of how to make a sequel: keep your core, add a nice complimentary character, and vary the plot. A simple equation but effective.