Live Blogging Lethal Weapon

Jingle Bell Rocks

A coked out nude model jumps off the balcony of her apartment building. That’s how you start a Christmas movie.

Mel Gibson’s ass

I have no issues with any of the movies i just have seen 1 and 4 the most. Kinda would love to see them do a Lethal Weapon 5 with like Riggs kid and maybe Murtaugh Grandson as partners or something.

“Rog, meet your new partner.”

“I’m too old for this shit.”

Bullets in the mail.

Merry Christmas.

You mean lazy.

I was sorta in the mood to copy SnoBorderZero and watch Raiders, but I clicked on HBO Max by mistake (instead of Disney Plus) and ended up watching Lethal Weapon instead. I absolutely love this movie. It's a bit choppy and the villains are mostly nonexistent but the script and characters are so strong that it don't matter.

A few thoughts:

-- The budget for this movie is $15 million, which I'm sure is a lot more when you factor inflation, but most of it must have gone towards the cocaine because it feels like the cost was $5 million. Following a summer of huge flops such as the Flash and Indiana Jones, it is refreshing to watch such a relatively low scale action film. The "big" set pieces are in the desert, the middle of Hollywood Blvd and someone's front yard. I know Doomsday will be out of a job if Hollywood goes back to these budgets but there might not be much of a choice.

-- I'm sure Shane Black hates what Richard Donner did to his script (and later the series) but he's objectively wrong. What is so brilliant about Lethal Weapon is the humanization of the characters. These feel like real people in real situations. If Donner had gone with the grit that Shane Black intended, the movie wouldn't have worked. The plot is ridiculous when you think about it. Ex CIA heroin dealers go on a public murder spree and two L.A. cops stop them? Come on now. Donner focusing in on character and relationships is what makes you root for them at the end and go along with the absurdity of everything.

-- Speaking of which... the biggest criticism of this film has always been the front yard fist fight between Mel Gibson and Gary Busey. Watching it in 2023 is hilarious. Can you imagine this movie being made today? How would you even justify that scene? A bunch of cops standing around while the lead detective and main suspect get into a fist fight? Bruh.

Anyway, gonna go watch Lethal Weapon 2. Free South Africa you son of a bitch!

Correct that, sir.


Lethal Weapon 2 is so fucking good. It’s amusing how it plays out more like a comedy than an action film. They even have running gags. But the ending is so killer that it pays off.

Summer 1989 was so great. Last Crusade. Batman. Lethal Weapon 2. I guess we should be grateful we were spared a shitty Lethal Weapon movie this summer after Michael Keaton and Harrison Ford got stuck in disappointing sequels.

Sno, how’s Beverly Hills Cop 4 holding up??