Lethal Weapon

By Reggie's Take on May 17, 2016

Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh on the big screen once put the “A” in action and the bad guys running in fear. Now Fox is trying to bring that same magic to the small screen this fall.

Fox has released the first trailer for the modernization of Lethal Weapon and it does manage to capture the madcap energy and hectic action of the films.

Want to see how crazy Martin Riggs is in this incarnation? Watch Riggs single-handedly take down a group of masked criminals and then have a piece of pizza. Or when he leaps from one vehicle to another, knocking someone out while hanging from the roof of the car and then leaping off.

While Clayne Crawford seems to be able to embody the character of “Riggs” fairly well, Damon Wayans, Sr. portrayal of “Roger Murtaugh” seems less desirable than Glover’s movie version. Wayans version of the aging detective recently suffered a heart attack and is advised to take it easy, but the trailer makes this “Murtaugh” look less pissed off than Glover’s and a lot goofier.

Reggie’s Take:
To be honest I’ve not been a fan of this idea of bringing Lethal Weapon to television, at least not to network television. Recent history of reboots and movies turned into television shows does not bode well for a television version of one the best buddy-cop movie franchises to grace the big screen.

A Lethal Weapon television version really needs to be made for one of the streaming services like Netflix or Hulu where there would be no worries or restrictions on language, violence and the show could get as gritty as it needed to tell a good story.

I’m willing to give this version airing on Fox this fall a chance, but will be doing so with low expectations.

Lethal Weapon Synopsis:
Combining action and drama with friendship and humor, LETHAL WEAPON reboots the hit movie franchise, as it follows classic cop duo Riggs and Murtaugh, who are working a crime-ridden beat in modern-day Los Angeles. Grief-stricken after the loss of his young wife and unborn child, ex-Navy SEAL-turned-detective MARTIN RIGGS (Clayne Crawford, “Rectify”) moves to California to “start over” at the LAPD. He’s paired up with ROGER MURTAUGH (Emmy Award nominee Damon Wayans, Sr., “My Wife and Kids,” “In Living Color”), who’s just coming back to the job after a near-fatal heart attack.

Riggs’ penchant for diving headfirst into the line of fire immediately clashes with Murtaugh’s prudent, by-the-book technique. It’s clear from the moment they meet, this partnership could be lethal. But during their first case together, Riggs drags Murtaugh on a high-speed chase culminating inside the Long Beach Grand Prix and into a seaport shootout with drug dealers – and despite his protests, the older cop feels more alive than he has in years. Meanwhile, Riggs gets a glimpse of why Murtaugh is so determined to get home safely at the end of each day – he’s got a family and a newborn baby of his own. By the time their investigation ends, Riggs realizes he may have found something worth living for – a partner and friend like Murtaugh. And even Murtaugh figures this arrangement might just work out after all. If only Riggs doesn’t get them killed first…