The following is a quick episode review of FOX’s Lethal Weapon. Available in Denmark on Viaplay.
In the pilot episode of FOX’s new buddy cop action-comedy show Lethal Weapon, a fifty-year old police officer – Roger Murtaugh (played by Damon Wayans) – must partner-up with a depressed ‘loose cannon’ with a death wish – Martin Riggs (played by Clayne Crawford).
As you can see in the tweet above, I didn’t approve of this show’s existence – or any reboot/remake of the film series, really. For me, Lethal Weapon is a 1980s classic. I adore the film series, and, generally, I tend to love a lot of what Shane Black brings into the world. Danny Glover is the perfect Murtaugh, and Mel Gibson is the perfect Riggs. I adore these characters.
Those characters were the reason why the film series worked as well as it did. Glover and Gibson were so much fun to watch together, and if this remake is to be at least somewhat successful, then Crawford and Wayans have to have great chemistry.
Thankfully, that’s the best thing about the pilot. I do enjoy watching Wayans and Crawford together. The best scenes, for me, were when Wayans and Crawford were alone in a scene together. So, to an extent, the chemistry is there. But I wouldn’t say that both Wayans and Crawford are equally good in their iconic roles.
I’m not on board with Wayans yet. There’s just something he’s missing. Crawford, on the other hand, feels inspired. Gibson will always be Martin Riggs, but Crawford does a really solid job here. His performance was what kept my attention on the episode and not on the horror of it being a remake of one of my favorite action-comedy franchises.
I do have some pretty strong issues with the pilot, though. Even if the two leads’s chemistry is there, the actual episode plot has to have some weight. I don’t really remember what mission they were on in this episode, and the episode didn’t care about that either.
The mission took a backseat in the pilot, and the writers need to work on balancing the relationship and banter with the mission and the action. My biggest problem with the pilot, though, was actually showing Riggs’s wife’s death. That was too much. Maybe they could’ve flashed back in the future, but it just didn’t work in this pilot.
Right now, I’m not sure if I’ll be reviewing the show on a weekly basis, or if I should wait to review the entire season and not individual episodes. But, for now, I’ll review the show until I grow tired of it. If this show does, however, live up to its potential, then I’ll be reviewing it for a while. But who knows, it is a remake after all.
B
– Jeffrey Rex
I'm Jeffrey Rex 