Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
83%RT Audience Score: 77%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
1 win & 2 nominations total
Lethal Weapon 2 may sport a thin plot typical of action fare, but its combination of humor and adrenaline, along with the chemistry between its leads, make this a playful, entertaining sequel
Lethal Weapon 2 is the perfect movie for those who love action, humor, and explosions. It’s like a comic book come to life, with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as the ultimate buddy cop duo. Director Richard Donner knows how to balance the humor and the violence, making it a fun ride from start to finish. Sure, it may not be the most sophisticated movie out there, but who cares when you have nail guns being used as weapons? If you’re looking for a good time, Lethal Weapon 2 is the way to go.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Wide)
Filming Location(s)
7436 Mulholland Drive, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1989
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 53m
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Language(s):English, Afrikaans
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 7, 1989 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 22, 1997
Genre(s)
Action
Keyword(s)
starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Joss Ackland, Derrick O’Connor, Patsy Kensit-Healy, directed by Richard Donner, written by Jeffrey Boam, produced by Richard Donner, Joel Silver, action, R rating, box office performance, $144.9M, critic reviews, Michael Wilmington, Anne Thompson, Variety Staff, MPAA rating, Warner Bros Pictures, sound mix, surround, aspect ratio, scope (2.35:1), South African smugglers, diplomatic immunity, witness-protection duty, chemistry, humor, adrenaline, sequel, buddy cop, thriller, revenge, emotional, comical
Worldwide gross: $227,853,986
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $555,228,211
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 256
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 60,548,333
US/Canada gross: $147,253,986
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $358,824,389
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 148
US/Canada opening weekend: $20,388,800
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $49,682,857
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 233
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $28,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $68,229,616
Production budget ranking: 614
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $36,741,648
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $450,256,947
ROI to date (est.): 429%
ROI ranking: 317
Danny Glover – Sergeant Roger Murtaugh
Joe Pesci – Leo Getz
Joss Ackland – Arjen Rudd
Derrick O’Connor – Pieter Vorstedt
Patsy Kensit-Healy – Rika van den Haas
Richard Donner – Director/Producer
Joel Silver – Producer
Jeffrey Boam – Writer
Director(s)
Richard Donner
Writer(s)
Jeffrey Boam
Producer(s)
Richard Donner, Joel Silver
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
1 win & 2 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (44) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (36) | Rotten (8)
[T]here’s a sense in which all these recent one-against-a-hundred cop and war thrillers represent the gaudy degeneration of the great tradition of the American action movie: substituting hardware for atmosphere…
August 3, 2020
Michael Wilmington
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Unlike most sequels Lethal Weapon 2 is neither predictable nor conventional. It’s just pumped full of juice.
August 3, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Anne Thompson
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Loaded with the usual elements, Lethal Weapon 2 benefits from a consistency of tone that was lacking in the first film.
June 6, 2008
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
By concentrating on the often frustrating, funny relationship between the three men, the film gains in humour but loses some of the momentum and panache which distinguished the original.
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
If you liked Lethal Weapon, you’ll like Lethal Weapon 2; it’s almost as simple as that.
May 20, 2003
Caryn James
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
It’s fun stuff — crackling, playfully escapist summer fare that doesn’t make you feel taken advantage of later.
January 1, 2000
Roger Piantadosi
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
The rare buddy cop sequel that’s better than the original film. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover are a hoot, expanding their partnership on screen, while director Richard Donner gives us more humor and action. [Full review in Spanish]
May 25, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/5
Fico Cangiano
CineXpress Podcast
Director Richard Donner returns, with all of the original cast and more of the same buddy-cop chemistry and wild shenanigans that made the first feature so much fun.
September 6, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
If you don’t mind your comic books being filled with incessant shootings, explosions, knifings, drownings, stranglings, car crashes, fires and the use of automatic nail drivers as weapons, it’s a lot of fun.
August 3, 2020
Ralph Novak
People Magazine
Director Richard Donner accents humour rather than explosive action and the result is an oddly toned, cartoon-like adventure with the comedy elements making the nasty violence seem even more gratuitous.
August 3, 2020 | Rating: 3/5
Alan Jones
Radio Times
Mediocre. [Full Review in Spanish]
August 3, 2020
Fernando Morales
El Pais (Spain)
As a sequel it is a notable risk to take the route of a more bitter and dark tone. [Full Review in Spanish]
August 3, 2020
Pablo Muñoz
Espinof…
Plot
Riggs and Murtaugh are trying to take down some drug dealers but the they turn out to be not run of the mill drug dealers; they have automatic weapons and helicopters. Eventually they grab one of their vehicles and find a million dollars worth of gold coins or Krugerrands in the trunk. Later Murtaugh is threatened by the men they’re pursuing. That’s when the Captain reassigns them to protect a man named Leo Getz who is suppose to testify in a big case. When they get to where Leo is, someone tries to kill him and that’s when they learn he laundered half a billion dollars worth of drug money. He then takes them to a place he once went to and that’s when the people there start shooting at them. Later when they come back with back up they learn that the men work for the South African consulate and have diplomatic immunity. They deduce that they are the ones they were looking for, but because of they have diplomatic immunity they can’t do anything.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Joe Pesci’s character, Leo Getz, was added to provide more humor to the film, but some audience members found him annoying and unfunny.
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