Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) – Buddy Cop, Car Chases, Fist Fights, Gun Fights. Stir Well.

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

Director: Richard Donner
Starring: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Joss Ackland

Diplomatic immunity, toilet bombs, and Mel Gibson’s unexplained murder boner: welcome to Lethal Weapon 2, an action sequel watered down with gasoline. John and Sean continue their month of blockbusters by revisiting Richard Donner’s 1989 buddy cop movie, where Riggs and Murtaugh take on South African diplomats and the laws of physics take the week off. It’s loud, ridiculous, frequently entertaining—and the more you think about it, the worse it gets.

• Diplomatic Immunity Is Not a Murder Subscription: Why is Riggs so hellbent on killing these guys? We question his motivation, the villains’ get-out-of-jail-free crutch, and a witness protection strategy that apparently means taking Joe Pesci somewhere the bad guys already know.

• The Martin Riggs Show, Featuring Some Guy Named Murtaugh: The tortured character from the original Lethal Weapon gives way to Three Stooges impressions and action-hero bullshit. We debate Danny Glover’s reduced role and why Leo Getz supplies just the right amount of Joe Pesci—before the next sequel pushes it.

• Toilet Bombs and Imaginary Platforms: A surfboard through the face? Beautiful. An untethered nail gun, suspiciously infinite ammunition, and a car blasting out of a shipping container with nobody driving? We have some deeply petty questions.

• Watered Down with Gasoline: Does bigger action make up for a dumber story? Nostalgia collides with nitpicking as we unpack the sequel’s popcorn appeal and the original ending that could have given Riggs’ reckless behavior actual consequences.

  We Also Talked About

• Predators (2025) (Primewire): A documentary about To Catch a Predator, Chris Hansen, copycat sting operations, and the messy collision of television spectacle and criminal justice.

• Peter (Amazon): A Peter North documentary that prompts a discussion of adult-industry biographies, suspiciously thin storytelling, and Sean’s unmet demand for smut.

• Capturing Bigfoot (Amazon): The Patterson–Gimlin film, Bigfoot believers, disputed footage, and a documentary Sean had been waiting months to see.

• Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger (2014) (Tubi): John wants a deep dive into the notorious Boston crime boss and gets something closer to mob-history CliffsNotes.

• Norm: The Tail of Norm Macdonald (Netflix): Judd Apatow’s documentary sends us down a rabbit hole of Norm’s stand-up, Saturday Night Live, Weekend Update, and Dirty Work (1998).

• Dexter: Resurrection (Amazon): Kane Hodder turns up, Dexter makes more terrible decisions, and John wonders why he’s still watching.

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