buddy cop

SYNOPSIS:

When two reluctantly partnered homicide detective sergeants, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh, are assigned to look into the mysterious death of a prostitute, the case becomes a murder investigation into an elaborate drug smuggling operation run by former Vietnam soldiers. But when they kidnap Riggs and Murtaugh along with Murtaugh’s daughter, things get personal, and the only thing that matters for Riggs and Murtaugh, is vengeance!

It was announced in 2011 that Warner Bros. set plans in motion to reboot the 1987 buddy cop action blockbuster, Lethal Weapon, which starred Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as the classic characters, Detective Seargants Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh. The original film, directed and co-produced by Richard Donner, became a major commerical success and spawned three more sequels through 1998, tentatively ending the franchise with the release of Lethal Weapon 4, which shot then Hong Kong action star Jet Li to stardom.

While Lethal Weapon is not the first film of its kind to follow the buddy cop genre, the film is still heralded as classic among classics. It has high-adrenaline action scenes, intense drama, epic gun battles and plenty of memorable of poignancy and awkward comedy to connect the audience to the story. Plus, the chemistry between Gibson and Glover is brilliant. When they are on screen, they are not artificial or superhumam. The performances are organic and relatable, and the development between both of these characters is nothing short of exquisite. Moreover, fight trainers Cedric Adams, Dennis Newsome and Rorion Gracie were hired to help almagamate several fighting styles to manifest the exhilarating fight scenes featuring coordinated by the late Bobby Bass, whose IMDb credits are an absolute list of famous action movie titles, including Black Rain, Preadtor, The Crow, Rising Sun,The Bodyguard, The Perfect Weapon and many more.

It’s no wonder that this film deserves its appreciation if it does get rebooted. The original film brought a sense of pure and raw value to the buddy cop genre that might become difficult to duplicate or re-envision in a reboot. Although, as sure as I am that the franchise has pretty much made all its money back by now, lol, I am a proud action film fan, and I do look forward to whatever the studio comes up with when Will Beall’s script is finally realized in the film’s production. It may have been a few years since its announcement, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will not happen. Considering how Glover and Gibson have already explained how they feel about the reboot, it’s totally understandable how some may feel about it too. At any rate, however, we will see how this story turns out.

In the meantime, there is not much else I can say about the film except, well, if you or someone you know is suffering from a severe action film deficiency, you can find the film on DVD or Blu-Ray whever movies are sold. You can also find the complete box set at Amazon.

The film was also produced by Joel Silver for Silver Pictures, based on a screenplay by Shane Black, and was distributed by Warner Bros.

Photo Credit: Film-Cine

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