Lethal Weapon 2 is the first sequel to the 1987 film Lethal Weapon, it was the third most successful movie of 1989 in North America earning nearly $150 million domestically and $80.6 million overseas.  The film is now 22 years old the film opens with Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Murtaugh (Danny Glover) engaged in a car chase with a red BMW.  After the BMW crashes Riggs and Murtaugh move in to arrest the driver but find he has escaped, they open the trunk of the BMW and discover the trunk is full of South African Krugerrands  (gold coins which are illegal in the US).  Arjen Rudd (Joss Ackland) and his chief enforcer Vorstedt (Derrick O’Connor) meet with the driver of the red BMW Hans (Mark Rolston) in his office, where Vorstedt kills him for loosing the shipment of Krugerrands.  Arjen orders Vorstedt to deal with Murtaugh who is in charge of the investigation, later that night Vorstedt and his men sneak into Murtaughs house and attack him and his family tieing them up and gagging all of them warning him to cease the investigation into the Krugerrands.   After the attack on Murtaugh, he and Riggs are reassigned to a less dangerous task of protecting a Federal witness Leo Getz (Joe Pesci).   Shortly after arriving at Leo’s hotel room an assassin posing as room service enters the room and tries to kill Leo.   Riggs leaps into action and he and the assassin end up going out the window 7 stories up and they both land in the swimming pool below.  The assassin gets away, after which Leo tells Riggs and Murtaugh that he had been laundering funds for the same drug smugglers.  Leo remembers he had some sort of interview with them before he got the job and leads Riggs and Murtaugh to a house on stilts.  Riggs takes a look inside the house and recognizes one of the men in the house as the assassin from the hotel.  The assassin tries to make an escape by stealing a tow-truck parked outside the house but Riggs jumps onto the back of the tow truck as it pulls away.  Murtaugh and Leo chase after Riggs and the suspect, which ends with the suspect being impaled by a surf board.  Later that day Riggs and Murtaugh return to the house on stilts with full backup of detectives and uniform officers.   Attempting to arrest the gang Riggs and Murtaugh are confronted by Arjen Rudd (Joss Ackland) the minister of affairs for the South African Consulate.  Rudd indignantly invokes diplomatic immunity on behalf of himself and his staff and threatens to report Riggs and Murtaugh to the State Department for violating South African soil.   Although ordered by the Department to leave Rudd and his associates alone, Riggs and Murtaugh are certain that he is the one they are looking for and commence a private war against them.  While Leo and Murtaugh distract the guards at the South African Consulate, Riggs infiltrates the building and catches the name “Alba Varden, a name that appears familiar somehow to Murtaugh.   At the same time, Riggs begins a romance with Rudd’s secretary Rika (Patsy Kensit) who strongly dislikes both her boss and her country’s policies.   Riggs invites her to dinner at his trailer, which ends with them in bed together.  Meanwhile Rudd has decided to deal with his police problems once and for all and orders Vorstedt to begin a campaign of violence against the LAPD.  As a result many of Riggs’ and Murtaugh’s fellow officers are murdered.  While guarding Leo, Murtaugh views an old family video and finally remembers that Alba Varden is the name of a South African ship currently at the docks.   He suddenly realizes that Rudd is planning to use the ship to smuggle his billions in drug money to Cape Town.   He is then attacked by two of Vorstedt’s men but manages to kill them with a nail gun.   At the same time   Leo is kidnapped while sitting unguarded in Murtaugh’s car outside Murtaghs house.   While in bed with Rika,  Riggs is woken up by his barking dog Max of an impending attack by Rudd’s men in two helicopters.   They both quickly get dressed and escaped the trailer by climbing through the hole in the floor that Max the dog came up from and barked from.  While his trailer is being shot to pieces Riggs manages to kill one of the attackers and kill two others with his machine gun.  They both escaped and Riggs drives Rika home, as Riggs goes to leave in his truck he is knocked out and captured by Vorstedt.  Vorstedt has Riggs all tied up in a straight jacket and chains but before he kills him Vorstedt taunts Riggs over the death of his wife.   Revealing to Riggs that when he was a narcotics officer in Long Beach California he had been costing them a lot of money so they put a hit out on Riggs to be killed.   Vorstedt handled the hit personally and ran Riggs car off the road thinking he was inside it, but instead he kills Riggs wife.  Coldly mocking his bad luck with women, Vorstedt drops the now enraged Riggs off the docks in a straitjacket and leaves him to drown.   Riggs quickly escapes the straitjacket by dislocating his shoulder as he swims free he sees Rika drowned.  Although Vorstedt has already left, Riggs kills Vorstedts two men he left behind to make sure he was dead.   Riggs phones Murtagh and announces that he is going after Vorstedt and Rudd to avenge the deaths of his wife, Rika and the rest of their squad. Leaving his own badge at the station Murtaugh leaves to help him kill Vorstedt and Rudd.    Meeting a short distance away from the house on stilts, Murtaugh reminds Riggs that they have no authority to go in there and that they have Leo.  Riggs simply replies “I’m not a cop tonight it’s personal”.  Murtaugh heads inside the house to rescue Leo.   Meanwhile Riggs uses his truck to dislodge the stilts, causing the house to collapse just as Leo and Murtaugh escape.   After sending Leo back to the precinct, Murtaugh and Riggs go to the docks where the ship Alba Varden is moored.   They enter a cargo container that is sitting on the dock, only to discover it is filled with millions of dollars of drug money.   Their presence is discovered and the cargo container is sealed with the two of them inside.   The container if lifted into the air, however they use a Mercedes within the container to bust their way out causing all the money to blow out of the container into the Los Angeles bay.  Riggs and Murtaugh rappel down ropes onto the deck of the Alba Varden where they have a final confrontation with Rudd and Vorstedt.  Once on the deck of the of the ship Murtagh and Riggs split up, both of them end up in gun fights with Rudds men killing them.   Riggs is still in the cargo hold when from nowhere Vorstedt throws a knife into the back of Riggs leg causing him to go down.  Vorstedt repeatedly kicks him while he is down, Riggs eventually stabs Vorstedt with his own knife and leaves him for dead.   As Riggs begins to walk away Vorstedt pulls out a gun and aims it at Riggs who by pressing a button drops a cargo container on Vorstedt.  Suddenly Rudd appears up on the control deck and shoots Riggs in the back several times.   Witness to this Murtaugh draws his gun and attempts to arrest Rudd who holds up up his ID and gloats “Diplomatic immunity”.   Murtaugh shoots him in the head and replies “It’s just been revoked”.  Running to his partner, Murtaugh finds that although critically wounded Riggs is still alive.   The two buddies laugh and joke as the film closes to an end.
Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson is an American Australian actor and film director his films include Summer City (1977), Mad Max (1979), Tim (1979), Gallipoli (1981), Mad Max 2 (1981), Attack Force Z (1982), The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), The Bounty (1984), The River (1984), Mrs Soffel (1984), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Lethal Weapon (1987), Tequila Sunrise (1988), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Bird on a Wire (1990), Air America (1990), Hamlet (1990), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), Forever Young (1992), The Chili Con Carne Club (1993), The Man Without a Face (1993), Maverick (1994), Braveheart (1995), Ransom (1996), Conspiracy Theory (1997), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), Payback (1999), The Million Dollar Hotel (2000), The Patriot (2000), What Women Want (2000), We Were Soldiers (2002), Signs (2002), The Singing Detective (2003), Edge of Darkness (2010) and The Beaver (2011).  His films as a director include The Man Without a Face (1993), Braveheart (1995), The Passion of the Christ (2004) and Apocalypto (2006).

Danny Glover
Danny Glover is an American actor his films include Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981), Out (1982), Iceman (1984), Places in the Heart (1984), Witness (1985), Silverado (1985), The Color Purple (1985), Lethal Weapon (1987), Bat 21 (1988), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), To Sleep with Anger (1990), Predator 2 (1990), Flight of the Intruder (1991), A Rage in Harlem (1991), Pure Luck (1991), Grand Canyon (1991), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), The Saint of Fort Washington (1993), Bopha! (1993), Maverick (1994), Angels in the Outfield (1994), Operation Dumbo Drop (1995), Gone Fishin’ (1997), Wild America (1997), Switchback (1997), The Rainmaker (1997), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), Beloved (1998), The Monster (1999), Bàttu (2000), Boesman and Lena (2000), 3 A.M. (2001), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Saw (2004), The Cookout (2004), P.N.O.K (2005), Manderlay (2005), Missing in America (2005), The Shaggy Dog (2006), Bamako (2006), Dreamgirls (2006), Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation (2007), Poor Boy’s Game (2007), Shooter (2007), Honeydripper (2007), This Life (2008), Be Kind Rewind (2008), Gospel Hill (2008), Blindness (2008), Prana (2008), Night Train (2009), The Harimaya Bridge (2009), Down for Life (2009), 2012 (2009), Mooz-lum (2010), Death at a Funeral (2010), Second Line (2010), För kärleken (2010), Legendary (2010), I Want to Be a Soldier (2010), Five Minarets in New York (2010) and Heart of Blackness (2011).  He has appeared in TV series such as Hill Street Blues, Lonesome Dove, Tall Tales and Legends, ER, Brothers & Sisters and My Name Is Earl.
Darlene Love
Darlene Love is an American popular music singer and actress she began her singing with her local church choir in Hawthorne, California.  While still in high school she was invited to join a little known girl group called The Blossoms and in 1962 began working with producer Phil Spector. Darlenes powerful voice made her a sought after vocalist and she managed to work with many of the legends of 1950s and 1960s rock and soul including Sam Cooke, Dionne Warwick, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones and Sonny and Cher; Darlene and the Blossoms sang back up vocals on Shelley Fabares’s hit Johnny Angel as well as John Phillips solo album John Wolfking of L.A recorded in 1969. In 1990 Cher invited Love and her sister Edna Wright as her background vocalist for the Heart of Stone Tour. She also released a minor single in 1992 with All Alone on Christmas written and composed by Steven Van Zandt which can be found on the Home Alone 2 Lost In New York soundtrack. Love also contributed vocals to the soundtrack of the film Jingle All the Way. In the late 1980s and 1990s Love also began an acting career playing Danny Glover’s wife in all four Lethal Weapon movies.

Steve Kahan
Steve Kahan is an American character actor who has appeared many films his best known film role is in the Lethal Weapon film franchise as Capt Ed Murphy.  His films include Superman (1978), Inside Moves (1980), The Toy (1982), Lethal Weapon (1987), Scrooged (1988), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Predator 2 (1990), Radio Flyer (1992), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), Warlock II (1993), Demolition Man (1993), The Favor (1994), Maverick (1994), Free Willy 2 (1995), Assassins (1995), Conspiracy Theory (1997), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), Out Cold (2001), Timeline (2003) and 16 Blocks (2006).  He has appeared in TV series such as Hart to Hart, Knots Landing, Hill Street Blues, Simon & Simon, Matlock, Murder, She Wrote, Falcon Crest, Hunter,  and Tales from the Crypt.
Mary Ellen Trainor
Mary Ellen Trainor is an American actress who is best known as Dr Stephanie Woods in all four Lethal Weapon movies.  Her films include Romancing the Stone (1984), The Stone Boy (1984), The Goonies (1985),Lethal Weapon (1987), The Monster Squad (1987), Action Jackson (1988), Die Hard (1988), Scrooged (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Back to the Future Part II (1989), Fire Birds (1990), Ricochet (1991), Grand Canyon (1991), Kuffs (1992), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), Death Becomes Her (1992), Greedy (1994), Little Giants (1994), Congo (1995), Executive Decision (1996), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), Anywhere But Here (1999), Amy’s Orgasm (2001), Moonlight Mile (2002), Freaky Friday (2003), The Music Inside (2005) and Cake A Wedding Story (2007).  She has appeared in TV series such as Cheers, Remington Steele, Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories, Tales from the Crypt and Roswell.

Joe Pesci
Joe Pesci is an American actor he is known for his roles as violent mobsters.  His films include Hey, Let’s Twist (1961), The Death Collector (1976), Raging Bull (1980), I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982), Dear Mr Wonderful (1982), Eureka (1983), Easy Money (1983), Once upon a time in America (1984), Man on Fire (1987), The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway (1988), Moonwalker (1988), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Catchfire (1990), Betsy’s Wedding (1990), Goodfellas (1990), Home Alone (1990), The Super (1991), JFK (1991), My Cousin Vinny (1992), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), The Public Eye (1992), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), A Bronx Tale (1993), Jimmy Hollywood (1994), With Honors (1994), Casino (1995), 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997), Gone Fishin (1997), Lethal Weapon 4, The Good Shepherd (2006) and Love Ranch (2010).   He has appeared in TV series such as The Lucy Show, Half Nelson and Tales from the Crypt.
Joss Ackland
Joss Ackland is an English actor his film include Seven Days to Noon (1950), Ghost Ship (1952), In Search of the Castaways (1962), Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966), Crescendo (1970), Mr Forbush and the Penguins (1971), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), Villain (1971), The Happiness Cage (1972), Penny Gold (1973), Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973), England Made Me (1973), The Three Musketeers (1973), The Black Windmill (1974), S*P*Y*S (1974), The Little Prince (1974), One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975), Royal Flash (1975), Operation: Daybreak (1975), The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977), Silver Bears (1978), The Greek Tycoon (1978), Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe (1978), Saint Jack (1979), Rough Cut (1980), The Apple (1980), A Zed & Two Noughts (1985), Lady Jane (1986), White Mischief (1987), The Sicilian (1987), It Couldn’t Happen Here (1987), To Kill a Priest (1988), Lethal Weapon 2 (1988), The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Object of Beauty (1991), Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991), Once Upon a Crime (1992), The Sheltering Desert (1992), The Bridge (1992), The Mighty Ducks (1992), Nowhere to Run (1993), Occhio Pinocchio (1994), Mother’s Boys (1994), Giorgino (1994), Miracle on 34th Street (1994), Mad Dogs and Englishmen (1995), A Kid in King Arthur’s Court (1995), Surviving Picasso (1996), D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996), Swept from the Sea (1997), Firelight (1997), Milk (1999), The Mumbo Jumbo (2000), Passion of Mind (2000), No Good Deed (2002), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), I’ll Be There (2003), Asylum (2005), These Foolish Things (2006), Moscow Zero (2006), Flawless (2007) and How About You (2007).  He has appeared in TV series such as Sherlock Holmes, Z Cars, The Avengers, The Gold Robbers, Canterbury Tales, The Persuaders, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Midsummer Murders.

Derrick O’Connor
Derrick O’Connor is an Irish actor his films include Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971), The Final Programme (1973), Butley (1974), Jabberwocky (1977), On a Paving Stone Mounted (1978), Bloody Kids (1979), Hawk the Slayer (1980), Time Bandits (1981), The Missionary (1982), Brazil (1985), Hope and Glory (1987), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Dealers (1989), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Deep Rising (1998), End of Days (1999), Daredevil (2003), The First Vampire: Don’t Fall for the Devil’s Illusions (2004), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), Unrest (2006), The Blue Hour (2007) and The Last Job (2008).  He has appeared in TV series such as The Expert, Z Cars, Once Upon a Time, The Sweeney, Crown Court, Robin of Sherwood, Murder She Wrote, Tracey Takes On, Alias and Monk.
Patsy Kensit
Patsy Kensit is an English actress her films include For the Love of Ada (1972), The Great Gatsby (1974), Gold (1974), Alfie Darling (1975), Hennessy (1975), The Blue Bird (1976), Lady Oscar (1979), Hanover Street (1979), Quincy’s Quest (1979), Absolute Beginners (1986), Don Bosco (1988), A Chorus of Disapproval (1988), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Kill Cruise (1990), Chicago Joe and the Showgirl (1990), Bullseye! (1990), Timebomb (1991), Twenty One (1991), Blue Tornado (1991), Prince of Shadows (1991), Blame It on the Bellboy (1992), The Turn of the Screw (1992), Bitter Harvest (1993), Kleptomania (1995), Angels and Insects (1995), Tunnel Vision (1995), Grace of My Heart (1996), The Pavilion (1999), Speedway Junky (1999), Janice Beard (1999), Best (2000), Things Behind the Sun (2001), Hell’s Gate (2002), Darkness Falling (2002), The One and Only (2002), Shelter Island (2003) and Played  (2006).   She has appeared in TV series such as Z Cars, Hannah, Great Expectations, Tales from the Crypt, Casualty, Murder in Mind, Emmerdale Farm and Holby City.

Jenette Goldstein
Jenette Goldstein is an American actress her films include Aliens (1986), Near Dark (1987), The Presidio (1988), Miracle Mile (1988), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Star Trek: Generations (1994), Fair Game (1995), Touch Me (1997), Titanic (1997), Senseless (1998), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Living Out Loud (1998), Smut (1999), It Is What It Is (2001), Clockstoppers (2002), Home Room (2002), Duplex (2003) and Autopsy (2008).   She has appeared in TV series such as MacGyver, L.A Law, The Client, 7th Heaven, ER, Six Feet Under, Alias, 24 and Medium.

Mark Rolston
Mark Rolston is an American actor his films include Aliens (1986), The Fourth Protocol (1987), Weeds (1987), A Sinful Life (1989), Survival Quest (1989), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Prancer (1989), Impulse (1990), RoboCop 2 (1990), Body of Evidence (1993), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back (1995), The Set Up (1995), Eraser (1996), Daylight (1996), I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998), Hard Rain (1998), Letters from a Killer (1998), Rush Hour (1998), A Table for One (1999), Cathedral (2002), Scorcher (2002), Highway (2002), Chasing Ghosts (2005), Miracle at Sage Creek (2005), The Departed (2006), Protecting the King (2007), Asylum (2008), Saw V (2008), Not Forgotten (2009) and Saw VI (2009). He has appeared in TV series such as Sledge Hammer, Tour of Duty, Tales from the Crypt, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Babylon 5, Diagnosis Murder, ER, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Murder, She Wrote, JAG, Walker, Texas Ranger, Brooklyn South, The X Files, Angel, Alias, NYPD Blue, The Shield, 24, Star Trek: Enterprise, CSI: New York, Criminal Minds, Shark, Cold Case, CSI: Miami, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and NCIS: Los Angeles.
Click to view trailer for Lethal Weapon 2