Fans of "Lethal Weapon" will get a little extra jolt from "Lethal Weapon 2," as this sequel to the buddy-cop-thriller hit includes a few little in-jokes that allude to the first film.
And they will no doubt enjoy the action — there's plenty. And the comedy — there's plenty. And the noise — there's plenty.
But where "Lethal Weapon" leaned heavily on the reluctant friendship of wacko, suicidal Gibson and down-to-earth family man Glover, "Lethal Weapon 2" is more flash and dash and pyrotechnics.
In fact, there were times when this film reminded me more of James Bond, "Blue Thunder" and "Friday the 13th," with its cliffhanger action and bloody creative killings — the latter in slow-motion, no less.
The villains are silly, the plotting is simplistic and the entire production is so overblown that it proves single-handedly Hollywood still believes bigger is better, despite considerable evidence to the contrary.
Fault director Richard Donner for that, as subtlety has never been his game. (He even gives his HBO series "Tales from the Crypt" a blatant, shameless plug.) Jeffrey Boam, who also wrote "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," develops some nice moments, but they are overrun by the production itself.
"Lethal Weapon 2" has Glover and Gibson as partners of a couple of years now, comfortable with each other, but still on edge — especially Glover. He's never quite sure when Gibson will explode. (We see less of Glover's family, but his daughter is now doing TV commercials for condoms, which becomes the film's main running gag.)
During a routine drug bust Glover and Gibson stumble onto a bigger operation than expected, a South African diplomat (Joss Ackland) in Los Angeles who is a bigger crook than he is a bigot — no small feat.
But despite Ackland's being involved in all kinds of illegal activities — not the least of which is murder — and despite his having several cops systematically killed off, Glover and Gibson can't touch him. He has diplomatic immunity, you see.
That's a rather simple-minded plot device, a way of letting the bad guys off the hook. But most audience members may wonder if, even in Los Angeles, all the mayhem they cause wouldn't justify some kind of legal action, diplomatic immunity notwithstanding.
Of course, there are lots of tipoffs that the plotting should not be closely examined. For example, when Gibson escapes from a straight-jacket on a bet, you know it's going to be used later on — though you may wonder why the bad guys would put him in a straight-jacket when they could just shoot him and be done with it. I know you're not supposed to ask questions like that, but this is an L.A. cop, not Indiana Jones.
But much of the show is stolen by a new character, Joe Pesci as a goofy, fast-talking little accountant who worked for the South Africans but has now agreed to squeal to the feds. He's very funny, adding much to the show as he gleefully interferes with police procedure, driving Gibson and Glover nuts. (And Gibson and Glover are also very good, as you might expect.)
On the other hand, Gibson's required love interest, Ackland's young assistant (Patsy Kensit), who has no idea of the nasty things her boss is doing, is one-dimensional and seems to have little purpose in the film aside from providing an element left out of the first one — a raunchy sex scene.
Glover's family neatly disappears after the film's setup scenes — staying at the home of relatives, we are told — so the film can concentrate on action without such problematic elements as character development getting in the way. There are a few very nice moments between Glover and Gibson along the way, however.
This is a loud, abrasive, brainless action picture liberally sprinkled with comedy, and it will probably do every bit as well at the box office as its predecessor. But it's also as lightweight, silly and raunchy as they come.
"Lethal Weapon 2" is rated R for considerable violence and profanity, a sex scene with nudity and some vulgar dialogue.