BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: The magic is back! Got it - and more. Over four specifically added minutes put the boys back in action as never before in this director's cut version of Lethal Weapon 2. Riggs wows the pretties at a hotel spa before getting to Getz. Murtaugh receives bad bodywork news from an auto-repairman after his beleagured station wagon sees some Riggs-piloted street action. Plus, feisty Leo shares a newly included scene in which he recalls a suspect's address by complex spins of numbers that, well, noone can tell it like Leo.

FILM REVIEW: It’s very rare that a sequel can match the original in terms of quality but this second instalment in the Lethal Weapon franchise is every bit as good as the original. While this second instalment lacks the novelty and atmosphere of the original, it more than makes up for these shortcomings in terms of character, better action, a more personal story that ties the characters in with the villains (and the villains are on par with those in the original film), and the introduction of the character of Leo Getz (played hilariously well by Joe Pesci). Right from the start this is a roller-coaster of action, drama, comedy and magic that have made this action franchise one of the best Hollywood pumped out during the 1980’s.

This time around, Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Murtaugh (Danny Glover) stumble upon a gold/drugs/money laundering scam run by some nasty South African mobsters. Beginning with a spectacular car chase which re-introduces us to the madness and mayhem of the ‘Lethal Weapon’ world, the two detectives uncover a much larger, more threatening operation than they could have envisaged. With Riggs in particular, these South African mobsters have a personal connection to him that expands the backstory from the first film to do with Riggs’ wife’s death by car accident (which turns out not to be an accident at all).

Gibson and Glover are back at the top of their game in this one, however they seem to be more relaxed and comfortable in these roles than the first time out. In the first film Riggs and Murtaugh were more antagonistic but now that they’ve accepted each other they’re antagonism has turned in to a practical joke contest, with Murtaugh on the short-end of the stick on most occasions. The funniest jibe comes when Riggs tells all the policeman in the station that Murtaugh’s daughter is in a television commercial which turns out to be a condom commercial. Murtaugh’s initial reaction to seeing the commercial in front of his family in hilarious, but the next day, his desk at the station has been redecorated with condoms in assorted shapes and sizes. There are numerous gold moments between the two characters throughout the film and is what separates these films from other standard action fare.

The introduction of Leo Getz was a master-stroke. As played by Joe Pesci, he serves as the comedic relief. Much of the antagonism Murtaugh and Riggs showed each other is now directed at Leo with hilarious results. Pesci is well cast and does well to not make this character a silly, two-dimensional caricature. Leo is at his funniest when he keeps trying to be part of the team out of his desire to be a cop like Riggs and Murtaugh but the two policeman won’t have a bar of it. He gets his wish in the end when Riggs and Murtaugh let him sound the siren in his own car.

The villains in this film are top notch. Much like the first film, these guys are beyond you’re typical thug and actually exhibit enough menace to impart the notion that they won’t go down easily. Joss Ackland is particularly slimey and chilling as the leader of the South African mobsters Arjen Rudd (great line that he has: “who’s the dickhead now, hey?”), as is his no-emotion, ruthless second in command Pieter Vorstedt played brilliantly by Derrick O’Connor. Patsy Kensit is the cute love interest Rika van den Haas who works for the bad guys but defects to Riggs after she becomes attracted to him.

As for this being a Director’s Cut edition, I didn’t think the additional scenes added much to what was already there, and to be perfectly honest, I preferred the original cut simply because it moves faster. It’s nice to see some extra scenes, but overall, this probably wasn’t necessary. I also get the impression that these added scenes are meant to be an extra in of themselves, which I have to say is no excuse for having next to no extras on this DVD.

“Lethal Weapon 2” is a great action film in its own right and it’s every bit as good as its illustrious predecessor.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: Much like the first Lethal Weapon DVD, the transfer of the video is very clear and clean, aside from the odd film artefact, scratch and/or jump here and there. The colours look quite good and the picture on the whole is quite good for a film of this age. The audio soundtrack is great, with a lot of surround sound action, particularly in the big action sequences. Just for myself, especially liked the clinking of the gold coins at the end of the opening car chase. Very clear. Overall, it’s a very good transfer.

EXTRAS REVIEW: There’s only one real extra on this disc and that’s a ‘Stunts and Action’ Featurette which is basically a short promotional blurb about one of the car chase sequences in the film. It’s a nice little featurette but it’s also got that promotional flavour to it and it's under four minutes in length. Aside from this featurette, there are a number of subtitles (English, French, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Romanian, Bulgarian, English & Italian for the hearing impaired) and additional French and Italian language tracks. Should have had a lot more and it’s disappointing there wasn’t.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth having in the collection.