Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) on Netflix
R19891h 54mActionComedyCrimeThriller
LAPD partners Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh chase a drug case that yields a shipment of South African Krugerrands. Assigned to guard witness Leo Getz, they meet diplomats who claim immunity.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.3/10203,238 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes82%
Trailer
Plot summary
LAPD sergeants Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh work a drug case that leads them to a shipment of South African Krugerrands. Their captain reassigns them to protect Leo Getz, an accountant preparing to testify, and the pair discover the gold and the witness belong to the same investigation. Leo, a former money launderer, explains how the funds move and points them to the men behind it. Consul-general Arjen Rudd and his security agent Pieter Vorstedt run a smuggling ring out of the South African consulate, and Rudd claims diplomatic immunity to keep the police away. Riggs takes an interest in Rudd's secretary, Rika Van Den Haas, who dislikes her employer.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Producer Joel Silver asked Shane Black, writer of the first film, to write the sequel in the spring of 1987, and Black wrote the first draft with his friend, the novelist Warren Murphy. Their title was Play Dirty, which Black later used for a film he directed.
- The draft was rejected by Silver, the studio and director Richard Donner for being too dark and bloody, and because Riggs dies at the end of it while they wanted him alive in case of further sequels; they also wanted the second film to focus more on comedy.
SPOILER
Rika was originally intended to survive, with the last scene in the film being Riggs and Rika eating Thanksgiving dinner with the Murtaughs, but the director decided to kill the character to increase Riggs' motivation to destroy the South African drug smugglers.SPOILER
Donner said the film was shot in such a way that it could be edited with two different endings, one in which Riggs dies and one in which he lives; audiences in test screenings responded well to Riggs's survival, and that version was kept.
