Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

The second in the Lethal Weapon films, sees Murtagh and Riggs back together again as partners, this time investigating South Africans. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, one of the best cop buddies are back in a film that takes what the original created and moves it on a bit. From 1989 it is dated by the fact that the drop back to a lot of the action and set up is Apartheid demonstrations and does lead to the funniest scene in the film in the South African Embassy. “Bit you are Bleck!”

I like the series it went on a bit long and have only ever seen the fourth film once, but the first three are actually a really good series and they do what sequels are supposed to do and build on the original and previous films and I think that this series achieves this. The action is a step up, the comedy goes annoying with Joe Pesci but with Joss Ackland playing the main bad guy you have the comedy relief and the evil enough bad guy.

Overall you will know before you watch this if you are going to like It, a buddy cop movie that ticks all the boxes of the late eighties with dark enough deaths, harsh enough violence and just the right level of comedy. In the Cop buddy stakes it is a 9 out of 10, in the realms of movies it hits a respectable 7 out of 10.

Predator 2 (1990)

Film of 2012 #36

A world I love is that of the Predator, I like the creature and the lore behind it and what it can do and when I saw the sequel on TV again I thought yes I have to watch this. Made in 1990 it takes the original idea of the hunter in the Jungle of South America and moves it into the Urban Jungle of down town LA. A concept and idea that I can get behind and think you can see why there would be excitement behind this idea. You have Danny Glover as a super cop, an idea that I cannot get behind, in an LA that is essentially ripping itself apart through gang war, it put me in mind of Detroit from Robocop. You have the cops fighting the gangs who are fighting each other and while the cops try to win this battle the Predator targets the gangs and starts following Danny Glover as the ultimate target, quite unbelievable really.

I would just like to say that I like this film even though there are several flaws that I know annoy lpeople. The biggest issue I have is the casting of Danny Glover he cannot carry what the role requires. The support cast of Bill Paxton, Maria Conchita Alonso and Reuben Blade as the cops and Gary Busey as the shadey Government official are good and work for me and the story line in essence is solid enough for me. However the Colombian and the Jamaican bad guys are very stereotypical and pull you out of the piece, there are also a lot of set pieces and side characters that could be cut and would not detract from the film. 

Overall this is an enjoyable film that if you switch your brain off at the door, you can enjoy the action packed romp through LA as they fire guns all over the place and you get a really bad impression of LA through the 1990's. I give this 3 stars I think I see a lot of Nostalgia in this film and can enjoy it for what it is, let me know if you agree with me or have a different opinion.

Death at a Funeral (2010)

I had not seen the original film so had very little to base what I thought of this going in and I was pleasantly surprised, it is essentially a slapstick comedy with a serious and slightly dark edge starring Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Zoey Saldona, Keith David and Danny Glover. The premise is the funeral of a father and how his family deal with the funeral and a little surprise that turns up.

The comedy in this film is actually quite clever and funny, it is by no means a masterpiece and i will not be rushing out to see it again but happy that I have seen it. It is quite good as some of the funny moments are telegraphed but not really thrown in your face so it treats you with a bit of maturity, but Martin Lawrence is the biggest annoyance he just annoys me for some reason but Chris Rock is good and Zoey Saldona actually has some really good timing.

Worth seeing but not worth searching for 3 stars.