Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987)

by **Admin** Thu Oct 08, 2015 3:28 pm

How is the main character constructed? What filmic tools are used to accentuate and highlight that construction? What are the objectives, desires and challenges s/he faces?

by AmyLou93 Wed Oct 14, 2015 10:36 pm

Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987)

Cast: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover

Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller, Comedy

The two main characters Martin Riggs and Roger Murtough are a very unlikely action hero duo. Riggs is an unorthodox, mentally unstable police officer, grieving over the death of his wife. Roger Murtough is a 50 year old homicide detective with a wife and children.

Riggs is introduced to us after waking up alone, Roger is introduced to us in the bath surrounded by his children and wife all singing happy birthday to him. This to me suggests that the characters live very different lives and makes them an unlikely pairing. What is interesting to me however is the fact that both characters are naked when we meet them one thing they have in common. We are introduced to the fact that they are police officers by having each of them on a separate job. Roger is called to the scene of a suicide he does the usual asks questions and analyses the scene on the other hand Riggs busts a drug deal by pretending he is interested in the drugs and then at the last moment pulls his badge, the suspects then begin shooting at Riggs and he has a gun put to his head his reaction scares the hell out of the suspect as eh begins to egg him on suggesting that the suspect pulls the trigger this suggesting that Riggs is not afraid of dying, later confirmed when we see a scene of Riggs with a gun to his head. Due to his behavior Riggs winds up transferred where he is then partnered with Roger. The two start out hating each other but soon become friends as the film progresses. Lethal weapon is one of the early what I like to call partner films similar to Bad boys where we have similar storyline two very different personalities paired together become one elite crime fighting force.

Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987)

Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987)

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