Two years after LETHAL WEAPON bowed on the big-screen, Mel Gibson, Danny Glover and director Richard Donner continued their collaboration in the second of four films (a fifth is in the works) bringing together semi-mad cop Det. Martin Riggs (Gibson) and Det. Roger Murtaugh (Glover).
In the sequel, they battle a new foe on LA’s streets – a group of South African diplomats led by Arjan Rudd (Joss Ackland) and Pieter Vorsted (Derrick O’Connor), his vicious sidekick, who threatens the police with direct action if they don’t back off from stopping them smuggling krugerrand, the national currency of the region, as well as money laundering.
Riggs and Murtaugh are then assigned to protect a key witness in the case, Leo Getz (Joe Pesci, GOODFELLAS), but a botched assassination attempt on his life leads them to look after him in a more domestic fashion.
In his bid to hassle Rudd and co, Riggs meets and falls in love with Rika Van Den Haas (Patsy Kensit), his secretary. However, Vorsted has a deeper interest in Riggs that could prove explosive.
Even more spectacular than the first film, with even more humour and action that doesn’t waste any time getting going as the film opens in the middle of a car chase, LETHAL WEAPON 2 was one of the big hits of 1989 after Tim Burton’s mega-busting BATMAN.