There has been a debate raging for years about whether Die Hard (1988) is a Christmas film. I happen to fall on the side of ‘yes’ in that particular debate (although I mostly have no strong feelings either way) and as a result, I feel I allow the definition of what is a Christmas film to be stretched a bit further. This becomes very helpful when it rolls around to doing these reviews as it allows me to span out and watch a more varied list of films. And it also means I can watch films like Lethal Weapon (1987) and have absolutely no guilt. The film follows Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson, two police officers who are completely opposite in their personalities and approaches to their work. Forced to work together to bring down a group of drug smugglers, they must put their differences to the side and learn to get along to get the job done.
I would first like to say that if Die Hard is a Christmas film then Lethal Weapon most certainly is as well. I mean it opens by playing ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ and is filled with Christmas iconography. This is perhaps unsurprising as Shane Black is the writer of the film who also uses Christmas as a backdrop for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) and Iron Man 3 (2013). The film being set at Christmas adds a really great sense of visual and tonal dissonance. The film is set in Los Angeles, and so the film captures a sense of heat that creates a fun visual dissonance when it goes hand in hand with the Christmas iconography, especially for a Brit who associates the period with the cold and damp. The violence of the film also goes against the general feel of Christmas and adds to the general dissonance in the film's tone. However, it remains fun in its tone and so doesn’t go completely overboard in creating a contrast to the Christmas mood. The film feels so very 80s and that tone and style is one I have a lot of time for that tone and mood, which is fun and excessive. It does get a little lost in its tone when it is exploring the character of Martin Riggs. He is clearly a slightly unhinged character, and this makes him fun to watch, but then we also see him in one scene with a gun in his mouth considering killing himself. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is really the only time we explore this aspect of his character, and it becomes a pretty huge tonal shift from the rest of the film. However, I forgive it because the film is so fun.
The main selling point of any buddy cop film is the relationship between the two cops. Now, I can’t pretend that I have a large knowledge base of the buddy cop genre having not seen a huge amount of buddy cop films, but it is quite clear to me that these two are right up there in the pantheon of buddy cop films. The two contrasting characters, one being mentally unstable and one being a very cookie cutter, ‘I’m too old for this shit’ type character contrast against each other really well and Mel Gibson and Danny Glover play their parts perfectly. Mel Gibson does a great job at being on the tipping point while also being sympathetic and relatable in a way, while Danny Glover does very well playing an older cop who is grouchy and very much about playing things by the book. They have great chemistry with each other and are a lot of fun together on screen. The film also has a really fun villain in Gary Busey’s Joshua. He doesn’t have a ton of lines, but he comes across as completely apathetic and psychotic and, with it being Gary Busey, he is a lot of fun to watch. Add to that some really great action scenes and you have yourself a very fun action film.
If you were looking for a new action film to add to your Christmas repertoire (and let’s be honest, who isn’t?) then Lethal Weapon is your one-stop shop. It has two really fun leads who have great chemistry, a really fun villain, explosive action scenes, and enough Christmas iconography to get you through the holidays with all the Christmas spirit and joy you could possibly want. And all of this from a film called Lethal Weapon. You’ve got to love it.
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