What starts as a very standard sequel shifts into gear and kicks some serious ass in the second half. Pic takes advantage of our familiarity with the characters and places them smack in the middle of a provocative scenario that has them doing battle with the series' best villains: apartheid-era South African diplomats. "Diplomatic immunity" was arguably advanced into the lexicon of the common moviegoer here when the head bad guy, a vile old drug kingpin and ambassador, uses the legal term to avoid incarcaration, never mind that I don't quite think that would work in real life. Riggs' and Murtaugh's banter strengthens as the film goes on, while their struggle with the South Africans erupts into a full-fledged vendetta that results in several set pieces that are more memorable than any of those in the original: Murtaugh's commode bomb, the assault on the stilted house, and the showdown on the cargo freighter. Joe Pesci gives excellent supporting work as a witness that actually manages to fit into Gibson and Glover's chemistry quite well. The best film in the series.
4 out of 5
0 comments:
Post a Comment