Lethal Weapon 2 is an action / buddy cop film and the the second instalment of the Lethal Weapon series, directed like the first by Richard Donner and released in 1989.
Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) receive a comedy sidekick in Leo Getz (Joe Pesci), who's a witness and insider to the new bad guys. The Big Bad is Arjen Rudd, a South African diplomat using diplomatic immunity to hide his large-scale drug smuggling activities.
Followed by Lethal Weapon 3.
Lethal Weapon 2 provides examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Eventually, even Murtaugh can't help but chuckle at the "rubber plant" left on his desk.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Rika ends up hooking up with Riggs, a badass and somewhat unhinged loose cannon.
- Amoral Afrikaner: The racist South African drug dealers, who are also the main antagonists.
- And This Is for...: Riggs does this in the climactic showdown when he starts shooting one of the bad guys and saying the names of all the slain officers and Rika.
- Anvil on Head: Played for drama with realistic results when Riggs dispatches The Dragon by dropping a shipping crate on him.
- Arc Welding: The first film's backstory gets directly tied into the sequel's narrative with the reveal that the car crash that killed Riggs' wife Victoria wasn't an accident. It was actually an assassination attempt by Rudd and his associates to try and get Riggs (who was still with the Long Beach PD Narcotics Division at the time and who was unknowingly closing in on Rudd's operations). It was a sheer fluke that the wrong Riggs was driving the car when the assassination was executed.
- Artistic License – Economics: When Riggs and Murtaugh discover the bad guys' stash of drug money, Murtaugh exclaims: "These are thousand-dollar bills!" The Federal Reserve stopped printing large-denomination notes in 1945, and such currency was removed from circulation in 1969. While still considered legal tender, it's extremely unlikely that an entire shipping container of these bills would be available twenty years later.
- Artistic License – Law: Arjen Rudd's plan for using diplomatic immunity to commit crimes out in the open wouldn't have worked in real life. If a diplomat gets caught committing a crime, the police have the right to report him to his superiors, who may revoke the immunity at their discretion and leave the diplomat open to arrest and prosecution. And no matter how corrupt the regime might be, they would do that if the crime was serious enough, given the negative political consequences the country would suffer from having one of their diplomats abuse their position in a country as powerful as the United States. South Africa wasn’t exactly high on the world’s popularity list at the time, so they’d do anything to save whatever relations they had. Even if none of that had worked, the United States would've been able to declare him persona non grata and expel him from the country.
- Big Bad: Arjen Rudd, who is using his status as a diplomat to cover up his illegal drug-dealing activities.
- Big "NO!": The Mook driving the tow truck does one of these when a surfboard crashes through his windshield, decapitating him.
- Bombproof Appliance: A bathtub. The MythBusters eventually tested this as in the scene, and aside from the detonation method (which actually took longer to go off), it all worked exactly as advertised.
- Bond One-Liner:
- Played with when Murtaugh is attacked in his home by an assassin and dispatches him with a nail gun — but he doesn't say anything. Then another assassin shows up, Murtaugh dispatches him similarly, and then he quips:
Murtaugh: Nailed 'em both.- When Rudd is shooting at him:
Rudd: (waving his credentials) Diplomatic immunity!
Murtaugh: (shoots him) It's just been revoked.- He later tells Riggs that Rudd's men were "dekaffirnated."
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Invoked several times, as the villains have numerous opportunities to dispose of Riggs and Murtaugh and don't.
- Boom, Headshot!: After Arjen claims "diplomatic immunity", Murtaugh puts a bullet in his head.Murtaugh: It's just been revoked.
- Bottomless Magazines: Inverted with the MP5A3 Murtaugh takes from one of the Mooks which only fires five rounds before running dry, forcing him to switch to his revolver.
- Brick Joke: After Murtaugh's daughter appears in a condom advertisement, Murtaugh bemoans how his police colleagues will be planting condoms wherever he goes. That night Murtaugh and his family are attacked in their home and no-one is interested in playing jokes on him...until later on in the movie when Murtaugh shoos away some cops crowding around his desk only to find they've planted a 'rubber tree' there. Even Murtaugh can't help breaking down in laughter. Also, later, while Murtaugh is trying to figure out what is meant by Alba Varden, the same advert comes on TV. Leo gets very excited (obviously not knowing that she is Roger's daughter). Roger turns off the TV and warns Leo that he'll pretend he didn't hear him say that. Leo also happens to repeat what the carpenter said earlier about her making him want to buy rubbers.
- Bulletproof Human Shield: Riggs takes out one of Rudd's men by spinning him into the line of gunfire by another.
- Cement Shoes: Vorstedt tries to dispose of Riggs by throwing him off a dock while chained to a weight. It doesn't work. It did work with Rika, though, much to Riggs' anguish.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- The nailgun that the construction worker working on Murtaugh's house had comes in handy when an assassin tries to kill Murtaugh while he was searching through old VHS tapes.
- The switch to the cargo container that Riggs drops on Vorstedt is shown rather obviously after Riggs rappels down and subsequently lingers in background shots throughout their fight.
- Chekhov's Hobby: In an early scene, Riggs bets another cop that he can escape from a straightjacket in under five minutes. After he wins the bet, he explains that the reason he can do that is because of an accident years ago where he dislocated his shoulder, enabling him to dislocate it purposely to slip out of such a restraint. This talent naturally comes in very useful much later when his life depends on escaping from a straightjacket when the villain tries to drown him while restraining him with one.
- Chekhov's Skill: Early in the movie Riggs demonstrates at the police station as part of a bet his ability to get out of a straitjacket by deliberately dislocating his shoulder. This comes in handy when the bad guys try the above Cement Shoes while he is in a straitjacket.
- Complexity Addiction: The South African villains send two helicopters full of machine-gun toting mooks to kill Riggs which fail conspicuously, only to later get the drop on him by just hitting Riggs over the head as he walks to his car.
- Connected All Along: It turns out that the Big Bad's henchmen were the ones that caused the death of Riggs' wife before the events of the first film.
- Contrived Coincidence: Wouldn't you know it, The Dragon just happens to be the very assassin who murdered Riggs' wife.
- Conveniently Placed Sharp Thing: Riggs is chained up and thrown into the sea. He dislocates his arm at the shoulder to get out. This is actually a Chekhov's Gun, as he does this to escape a straitjacket earlier in the film, on a bet.
- Cop Killer Manhunt: The South African government drug dealers assassinate several LAPD police officers to make them back off their investigation. Of course this just makes Riggs and Murtaugh more determined to defeat them. Riggs kills the assassin who killed them, and Murtaugh murders the government official who ordered the hit.
- Create Your Own Hero: A variation with the reveal that the South Africans were responsible for the car crash that killed Victoria Lynn Riggs before the first movie. While Riggs was already an established cop, his wife's death set off the chain of events that brought him to the LAPD and put him in a position to stop their operations in this film (and gave him the motivation to end them upon learning of their role in Victoria's death).
- Darker and Edgier: Easily the darkest and most violent entry in the series, particularly during the third act.
- Death by Looking Up: The Dragon gets a face full of shipping container.
- Deliberate Injury Gambit: Riggs uses his Chekhov's Skill of dislocating his shoulder to escape his bonds.
- Did Not Die That Way: In the first film, Riggs' wife was said to have been killed in a car accident. Turns out that the "accident" in question was a deliberate hit-and-run by Pieter that was meant to kill Riggs himself but got her instead.
- Diplomatic Impunity: Arjen Rudd is using his diplomatic immunity to hide his smuggling empire, which infuriates our heroes to no end. However, when he tries to use it to freely gun down cops, he learns the hard way that it protects from an arrest or prosecution, not from being killed in self-defense (given how he was mocking them with his badge, it's hard to sympathize). However, he was only a consular officer, and they get a lower grade of immunity—unless he had some other official status as well, he could have been searched, provided proper procedures were followed. Also, they could have deported him to South Africa at the very least, who likely would extradite to keep the US happy.
- Disney Death: Arjen Rudd shoots Riggs, who falls into a pit. In response, Murtaugh shoots him. Then he goes down into the pit to check on Riggs. And guess what? He's fine! Well, mostly fine, anyway.
- Disposable Woman: Rika's entire role in the plot is to fall in love with Riggs, then get murdered to make sure that It's Personal. The original plan for her was for her to survive and attend the Thanksgiving party at Murtaugh's house with Riggs, but the script was changed.
- Disposing of a Body: Rudd invites one of his hapless henchmen into his office which is covered in plastic for an apparent renovation. Pieter then shoots him in the head and wraps him up in the plastic. This becomes a Brick Joke when he's being chewed out later by the boss and keeps looking down at his feet. "I'm checking to see I'm not standing on plastic."
- The Dragon: Pieter Vorstedt is a highly skilled martial artist and top enforcer to the mostly Non-Action Big Bad, Arjen Rudd.
- Dramatic Irony: The reveal that Vorstedt and Rudd were responsible for the car accident that killed Victoria Lynn Riggs before the first film. They killed the wrong Riggs, but they still nearly succeeded in their goal in a roundabout way. His wife's death left Riggs emotionally destroyed and self-destructive. By the time of the first film, Riggs was well on the road to doing their job for them (i.e. killing himself) before Roger and the Murtaughs saved him.
- Dragon-in-Chief: Pieter Vorstedt to Arjen Rudd. In fact, Riggs' hatred for Vorstedt is because he was responsible for the death of Riggs' wife.
- Exploding Fish Tanks: Martin Riggs breaks into the office of Arjen Rudd, Minister of Diplomatic Affairs for the South African Consulate. While waving his gun at Rudd and his goons, Riggs pretends to be debating who to shoot, but shoots the fishtank instead and strolls off while Rudd's goons are struggling to pick up the slippery fish.
- Foreign Money Is Proof of Guilt: Riggs and Murtaugh get on the case of the Afrikaner villains after foiling an attempted "theft" (read: money laundering) and discovering that the money stolen was gold Krugerrands, which on top of everything else were illegal to import in the US at the time (in response to the apartheid government).
- Gilligan Cut: Murtaugh, stuck on the toilet, begs Riggs to keep his call to the bomb squad discreet. Guess what happens instead?
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Almost immediately after meeting Leo Getz, Riggs tells him to shut up. Getz says, "Oh, I get it— good cop, bad cop." Then Murtaugh also tells him to shut up. "Okay... bad cop, bad cop."
- Gory Discretion Shot: A mook is killed when a surfboard flies into his windshield and hits him in the face. Not much is shown but Rigg's squicked out facial expression says it all. It's also lampshaded by Captain Murphy later. "All I know is there is a guy in the morgue and he's got a surfboard where his face used to be..."
- Greater-Scope Villain: Pieter Vorstedt, as he revealed himself to the man responsible for Riggs' wife's death, therefore he's indirectly responsible for making Riggs suicidal and a danger towards himself and others in the first film.
- Heroic Pet: Riggs' dog Sam alerts him to an attack by barking.
- High-Dive Hijinks: One of the police officers took a dive and a swim regularly. This habit was used to set a bomb on the diving board.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Riggs stabs Vorstedt with his own knife.
- Hollywood Law: This movie is the one that insinuates that diplomatic immunity is a license to commit crimes with impunity. In reality, once the LAPD found out that the South African diplomats were running a drug ring, they could have just notified the State Department, who would have them deported. Since South Africa is a United States ally, it's probable they would then be extradited, or at least tried in their home country. Once Rudd's men started assassinating police officers, diplomatic immunity would have gone out the window and Pretoria would disavow him in an instant, since his actions could be considered terrorism—and the entire situation an act of war—against the United States. In any case, the South African government wouldn't dare raise a fuss about Rudd's death under those circumstances. Murtaugh would sell it as "a man shot my partner, I returned fire," which would clear IA easily, and the South African government would have a very hard time explaining why their consular officer died holding a gun that LAPD Forensics could easily match to bullets pulled out of an American police officer. It's possible that the whole thing is just a ploy by Rudd to scare the LAPD into leaving him alone (technically, they can't do anything until his diplomatic status is revoked, and in theory, they didn't have enough solid evidence to tie Rudd to criminal acts to get him deported immediately). It's clear that Rudd is planning to wrap things up and head back home (that's why he's on the boat back to South Africa), so he didn't need things to work forever, just long enough for him to cash in and get out of the country.
- Hope Spot: A tiny window for Riggs. He and Roger survive The Purge, Riggs and Rika barely make it out of his trailer before they're blown to bits, he drops Rika off at her apartment, telling her to call in sick the next day, both looking forward to a life together. Then, Pieter and company arrive, knocking Riggs unconscious...
- Iconic Sequel Character: Joe Pesci's Leo Getz character first appears as a federal witness in this film, and manages to show up in the rest of the series' films.
- Idiot Ball:
- No one thinks that Miss Van den Haas will need protection from her evil employers that she just betrayed and who just tried to murder both her and Riggs. They simply drop her off alone at her home, where the villains already know she lives. Rika herself grabs hold of the ball by not recognizing the fatal flaw in this plan, and it gets her a one-way trip to the fridge.note
- Also Arjen Rudd. Near the end of the movie he starts to shoot at the policemen and claims diplomatic immunity that can protect one from being arrested but not, you know, from being shot in self defense. Had he refrained from shooting, the protagonists could have done nothing without provoking a major international incident.
- Improbable Aiming Skills:
- Riggs fatally shoots a pilot of a helicopter in the dark from about 100 yards away. With a pistol.
- Arjen Rudd manages to shoot Riggs several times with a pistol from what looks to be about 100 yards away.
- Murtaugh then shoots him back, in his iconic, Once per Episode well-aimed shot. And in the process, he also intentionally shoots through Rudd's diplomatic passport.
- It's Personal: It becomes this the moment the South Africans liquidate Rika. Riggs lampshades it when he calls Murtaugh afterward, on his way to extract revenge, with a side quest of rescuing LeoRiggs: I'm not a cop tonight, Rog. This is personal.
- It's Personal with the Dragon: And during the climactic battle, it's revealed that Vorstedt was the one who actually killed Riggs' wife.
- I "Uh" You, Too: During the infamous toilet scene, Riggs and Murtaugh share a moment, the dialogue follows thus.Murtaugh: Riggs?...
[long Pause]
Riggs: I know. Come on. - Jump Scare: In universe. The the first use of the nail gun mentioned in Chekhov's Gun above results in Riggs and Murtaugh diving for cover and pulling their weapons on the carpenter.
- Land Mine Goes "Click!": There's one such moment, only it's not a land mine, but a toilet mine. Murtaugh sits on his toilet, only to find out the seat's been wired to a bomb that will blow if he gets up. Murtaugh and Riggs survive through the assistance of a Bombproof Appliance (in this case, the bathtub).
- Lethal Chef: Trish's culinary skills haven't improved since the first film. Murtaugh and Riggs both lament (half jokingly and half seriously) that the South Africans didn't plant the toilet bomb in her stove instead.
- Lodged-Blade Recycling: Vorstedt opens up the final fight with Riggs by throwing a long knife which impales Riggs through the thigh. Riggs ends up stabbing Vorstedt in the gut with it before crushing him under a shipping container. Riggs is extremely lucky his femoral artery wasn't severed, as he would have bled out in moments.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Vorstedt reveals that Riggs' wife's death was not an accident as it appeared and was ruled; Vorstedt sabotaged the brakes to make her car go off the road, as he was trying to kill Riggs himself (who was not in the car).
- Mauve Shirt: All but one of the new detectives introduced in the movie end up dead when the South African gangsters start covering their tracks after receiving some nice rapport and characterization.
- Meaningful Name: Leo tries to make this work for him (and mostly just ends up annoying people).Leo Getz: My name's Leo Getz. Whatever you want, Leo gets. Get it?!
- Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: A traffic stop (of a car with a trunk full of Krugerrands) → an international drug smuggling conspiracy by South African government officials.
- Mistaken for Dying: Riggs is shot multiple times. After taking care of the Big Bad, Murtaugh goes to where Riggs is lying in a pool of his own blood, complete with "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" playing in the background. The following conversation ensues:Murtaugh: You are not dead until I tell you! You got that, Riggs?
Riggs: Hey, Rog, *cough* could you reach into my pocket there?
Murtaugh: *pulls out a pack of cigarrettes and offers one to Riggs* Here you go.
Riggs: I... I want you to throw those things away; those things will kill you. - Nail 'Em: Murtaugh is attacked by South African agents and defends himself with a nail gun.Murtaugh: Nailed them both.
- Neck Snap: After returning from the dip in the water that was supposed kill him, a very pissed-off Riggs attacks a mook with a chain and twists his neck around. And then, Riggs slamming a car door multiple times on the mook's partner, which seems to damage his neck as well.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Riggs should have told Rika to RUN LIKE HELL instead of dropping her off at her apartment.
- Non-Action Big Bad: The only time Rudd takes direct action is at the very end when he empties a clip into Riggs.
- Off with His Head!: One Chase Scene ends with an off-screen example — caused by a flying surfboard.Captain Murphy: All I know is, there's a guy in the morgue; he's got a surfboard where his face used to be.
- Oh, Crap!: Possibly literally when Murtaugh realizes that the toilet he is sitting on is rigged to explode with a dead man's switch.
- One Last Smoke: Defied. Not only does Riggs tell him to throw them away, but he survives.Riggs: I want you to... throw them away. Those things will kill you. Really.
- One-Note Cook: Riggs, according to this movie, only knows how to make chili.Riggs: Do you like your chili with or without crushed Oreos?Rika: With, of course!Riggs: Heh heh. Woman after my own heart.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Mel Gibson, a couple of times. He seems to have the most problems when he's with the South Africans, perhaps because it's a similar accent to his Australian one.
- People of Hair Color: The South Africans, with the exception of Arjen Rudd, are mostly blond.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: The South Africans. What else would you expect from diplomats of the country that named Apartheid? Lampshaded by Riggs, who constantly calls Rudd "Aryan" and Vorstedt "Adolf".
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Non-verbal version; after putting a bomb in Murtaugh's toilet, the bad guys wrote "BOOM YOU'RE DEAD" on the toilet paper. If they hadn't, Roger probably would have stood up and been killed as planned. Heck, just eliminating "BOOM" would have been enough, changing a blatant "there's a bomb involved" warning into a generic threat that they can get into his house and get him anytime.
- Pretty Little Headshots: Rudd's death is pretty clean when Murtaugh puts a bullet hole in his temple.
- The Purge: The villain Arjen Rudd does this to the LAPD detectives investigating him, with Riggs, Murtaugh, captain Murphy and Mauve Shirt detective Eddie Esteban (the later two of whom weren't actually attacked due to being in the police station at the time) as the only survivors.
- Reality Is Unrealistic: The Mythbusters tested the scene where Riggs and Murtaugh survive the toilet bomb by diving into the tub with a bomb blanket. The method would have worked, however, it was found that spraying the bomb with nitrogen would have given the characters a full fifteen minutes of time.
- Refuge in Audacity: Riggs' signal for Murtaugh to go into the stilt house and start shooting the bad guys is to use his pickup truck to start bringing the whole place down, by repeatedly full-throttle yanking a foundation column lassoed to a tow cable.Murtaugh: Hey... what's your signal?
Riggs: You'll know it when it happens.
Murtaugh: [sighs] Somehow, I think I will know. - Retcon: The Reveal towards the end the movie that the death of Riggs' wife was no accident but rather a botched attempt by the villains to kill Riggs himself back when he was with Narcotics working at Long Beach.
- Reverse Grip: One of Arjen's mooks brandishes a knife this way when fighting with Murtaugh in his home.
- Revised Ending: The film originally ended with Riggs dying from his wounds. An alternate ending featured a Thanksgiving dinner at the Murtaugh house which is attended by both Riggs and Rika Van Dan Haas. Richard Donner later decided that Rika should be killed to further fuel Riggs' hatred of the South African diplomats. With Rika dead, this entire ending had to be scrapped. This ending was filmed prior to filming some of the other scenes from the film, including most of the second half where Riggs and Murtaugh go into final showdown with South Africans. Another reason why this ending was not used is because filmmakers weren't sure about whether Riggs should die or live at the end of the film.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: Leo is explaining that the reason he's marked for death is that he was skimming money from the accounts of the drug dealers he was laundering money for.Leo: It was easy! Millions of dollars in small bills changing hands - who's going to miss ten thousand here, twenty thousand there?
Murtaugh: Drug dealers.
Leo: ... yeah, that's right, they did... - Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Riggs goes on one after he finds out the South Africans killed his wife and his new girlfriend. Good thing Murtaugh was there...
- Rouge Angles of Satin: Riggs is standing outside the South African embassy (he can do little else to the movie's Big Bad at this point, because of his diplomatic immunity) with a sign that says "End Aparthied". Riggs certainly made a point of making sure the villain knew he was there.
- Running Gag:
- Riggs and Murtaugh are always telling Leo to stay in the car, which he almost always ignores. The one time he does what he's told, two bad guys commandeer the vehicle and kidnap him.
- Murtaugh's wife's new car gets more and more damaged as the film goes on. Among the damage it suffers is losing its front bumper, having its front windscreen shot (and then removed by Riggs), having its paint-work scrapped, having one of its doors smashed off, and having its hood smashed by a toilet.
- Ruthless Foreign Gangsters: Arjen Rudd and the South African mobsters.
- Sarcasm Mode: After Riggs confirms that Murtaugh's toilet is in fact boobytrapped:Riggs: Uhhh....you'll be OK as long as you don't stand up.
Murtaugh: Oh, well that's a relief...! - Sex Signals Death: Rika dies soon after having sex with Riggs.
- Shoot Everything That Moves: Riggs telling Murtaugh the plan for rescuing Leo:Murtaugh: What's the plan?
Riggs: Wait for my signal, then just go in and shoot those fuckers. - Spanner in the Works: The reveal that the car accident that killed Victoria Lynn Riggs before the first film was actually an assassination attempt. Riggs was the target, but it was a fluke that his wife was driving it instead.
- Soft Water: Done by Riggs when he falls out of a window and lands in a pool. To make matters worse, he gets mad at his partner for not following him out the window. Again, distance is important. 10 stories is plausible: 20 isn't.note
- Stealth Pun:
- When Murtaugh and Riggs are sitting in the bathroom and Roger is worried he's going to die on the toilet. After Riggs tells him that guys like him don't die on toilets, he adds:
Riggs: Besides, I'm here, and I have no plans on going right now.- When Murtaugh is "revoking" Rudd's diplomatic immunity, the bullet goes through his diplomatic passport first, punching a hole in the photo. You know, the way how those things get invalidated after they expire.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Arjen Rudd flaunts his Diplomatic Impunity in the faces of the heroes. In the climax, said diplomat is trying to actively gun down cops, saying that his diplomatic immunity will protect him. Murtaugh just revokes it, and suffers no consequences for it. No sane government would harbor a criminal with such a long rap sheet, especially one that includes attempted murder of police officers; doing so could be considered an act of war. Plus, diplomatic immunity only prevents people from being prosecuted. They can still be shot dead in self-defense. Even though Arjen threw down the gun, he did fire it, ballistics will match the bullets that hit Riggs, and there's no one to say that Murtaugh didn't shoot him while he was firing.
- Murtaugh, after sitting motionless on the toilet all night, can't stand on his own, and needs Riggs to help yank him off to escape the bomb.
- Tae Kwon Door: After a couple of thugs try to drown him, Riggs repeatedly slams a car door on the head of one of them.
- Tagline: "The magic is back"
- Unbuilt Trope: This was the movie that popularized the Diplomatic Impunity trope in Hollywood action movies as an example of the Rule of Drama for why the heroes can't kill off the bad guy immediately. It provides the Big Bad with a few scant seconds of protection before Murtaugh guns him down, since no sensible government is going to protect a diplomat who is shooting at foreign police officers.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The South Africans are retroactively, if indirectly, revealed to be this for General McCallister, Mr. Joshua, and Shadow Company in the first film because of their attempted assassination of Riggs. If they had succeeded and not killed his wife by mistake, the now-suicidal and self-destructive Riggs would never have ended up with the LAPD and partnered with Murtaugh. Without Riggs' involvement in the Amanda Hunsaker investigation, it's debatable if Murtaugh would have been able to crack the case on his own (or even made it out alive if the General viewed him as a threat.
- Visual Pun: The "rubber" tree that's left on Murtaugh's desk by his co-workers.
- We Need a Distraction: Riggs and Murtaugh somehow activate Rudd's car and drive it, unmanned, out the shipping container.
- What You Are in the Dark: Towards the end, Riggs and Murtaugh are trapped in a container with a car and millions upon millions of dollars in untraceable cash. Riggs plays Devil's Advocate and advises Murtaugh to take some of the cash for himself, as no one will ever know. Murtaugh seriously considers it, but then calls it "blood money" and throws it away. Notably, despite being the voice of temptation, Riggs never touches the money.
- Witness Protection: Cops have to watch and protect a guy who ripped millions off from the mob before he testifies, then gets to disappear into Witness Protection with the money he swiped.
- Would You Like to Hear How They Died?: Martin Riggs, the protagonist with a dead wife issue is about to be killed, and Pieter Vorstedt sits down to tell him a couple of things.Peter: I'm the bloke who changed the course of your life, mate. When you was a narc back at Long Beach you were getting too close to us, so we put a contract out on you. I handled it myself. Ran your car right off the road, bam! But of course it wasn't you, was it? I pulled back this mop of blood-soaked hair to see this woman's face. Your wife, right? (pause) She didn't die right away. Took a bit of time.
- You Have Failed Me: After Rudd's henchman Hans loses a million dollars worth of gold Krugerrands. Rudd summons him to a room with plastic sheeting over the floor and has him executed. Echoed in a scene later on, when Pieter Vorstedt meets Rudd in his office after a failure. Pieter looks down at his feet during the conversation and comments, "I am just checking to make sure I am not standing on plastic."
