I actually miss the old genre where two buddies become a dynamic duo and fight crime together. Lethal Weapon is one of those films that helped get it started. It’s an old film starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as Detective Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh. These guys weren’t just acting as your average cops, however. They were total goofballs, with Riggs being the legit crazy one. I mean, who else can dislocate their shoulder just to relocate it? These films are a blast to watch and the bread and butter of it all is watching the chemistry between Riggs and Murtaugh. This franchise got so good that it led to not a three, but four films. When a franchise is good enough to go beyond a trilogy, you know that’s a good sign.
It started in 1987 and ended with the fourth film in 1998, with an aging Riggs and Murtaugh taking on Jet Li. Seriously, that was a good tag-team fight. The movie actually had a good wrap-up for the series as Murtaugh’s daughter ended up marrying Chris Rock’s character and Joe Pesci’s character ended up becoming a member of the family. Why? Well, because he’s Joe Pesci and he’s funny as they come.
Now there has been talk about a fifth Lethal Weapon movie and I have mixed feelings about it. First of all, we should ask ourselves if four movies is enough. I mean, the franchise was good enough to go past a trilogy so that’s quite an accomplishment. There can be a such a thing as “too much is bad” and we’ve seen it happen. The last Lethal Weapon also came out way back in 1998. That’s a while back and obviously some time has passed by. The point is, a sequel can wait too long.
You want to hear an example? How about the last Dumb & Dumber movie that waited over a decade? Or how about Sin City: A Dame to Kill For? Those are just a couple of examples that perfectly sum up why sequels shouldn’t wait too long. On top of that, they just weren’t that good. If they were released a few years after their predecessors, they might’ve worked. However, by the time they were released, most fans just didn’t really care. Much like how the Independence Day sequel turned out. Boy, that was such a train wreck.
Lethal Weapon can very well fall into the same trap. Is it a sequel that we really need? Maybe not, but it is a sequel that many Lethal Weapon fans want to see, because it can work. In fact, it can work especially now, even with an older Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. Heck, Richard Donner even came out recently and said he’s up for directing it. Let’s just think about that for a minute. As of now, he’s ninety-one years old and still willing to get back into the director’s chair. If that doesn’t earn him kudos, then what does?
Why don’t we talk about Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. Mel Gibson is sixty-four years old, while Danny Glover is seventy-four. What running joke did Riggs and Murtaugh make in the last film? Basically how they were getting too old for that sh!t, but they had to keep reminding each other that they really weren’t getting too old for it. At the time, they were both middle-aged men past their prime but now, they’re both legitimately older men. As of now, they’re both certainly too old for that sh!t.
So what would a Lethal Weapon 5 look like with a much older Mel Gibson and Danny Glover? Would they honestly still be in the force at that age? Granted, it’s a silly action franchise that runs by the goofy comedy, but would we really believe that the LAPD would still keep on two cops in their sixties and even seventies? Then again, I guess it’s more believable than Riggs dislocating and relocating his shoulder multiple times.
Perhaps Riggs and Murtaugh won’t be active cops anymore. If they were, then that would be pushing it. So what if they start a mentor program where they train young cops? Sounds cliche, but I believe that Lethal Weapon is the kind of series that can pull that off without making it cliche. How? Well, if you’ve watched the movies before, you’ll know it likes to poke fun at its characters. Shane Black, the creator, is incredibly talented at writing about characters that can make fun of each other and actually make it funny and not gimmicky. If he’s brought aboard for the fifth movie, he can do the same by playing off the whole “we’re not too old for this sh!t” concept.
Just imagine if Riggs and Murtaugh were forced into retirement. Murtaugh, being the big family man, probably wouldn’t mind, since he would want to spend more time with his wife, kids, and grandchildren. Riggs, on the other hand, would be far less content with the quite life. He’s probably still adjusting to the family life with Lorna Cole and their child, but he’s the kind of guy who is still itching for some action.
I can see their captain telling them to act as trainers for the younger generation of cops. I don’t think either Riggs or Murtaugh would be too happy about it, but that’s where the Lethal Weapon humor can come in. They’ll do it just so the two of them can be working together again, but you can bet the whole department will make fun of them for it. If they were considered too old to be doing that stuff back then, then what kind of blowback would they face now? Probably a lot, and Murtaugh will probably suck it up, but Riggs will try to outdo the younger guys. Now that’s where the action will come in.
It wouldn’t be a Lethal Weapon movie without action. The action was always fun to watch, but now that Riggs and Murtaugh are older, they have limits. If they’re fighting a younger thug, they’ll have to find a way to overpower him through other means. They can fight dirty or Riggs can go nuts one last time. Either way, seeing them fight as older men against physically superior thugs will be interesting to see. They’ll probably even make jokes about it, as they always did.
So what do you think, Lethal Weapon fans? I’m excited for this movie to happen and it’ll just be fun to see Riggs and Murtaugh be cops again.
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