A small-screen reboot of the 29-year-old Mel Gibson actioner, “Lethal Weapon” comes to us from Matthew Miller, who also created the 2014 Ioan Gruffudd immortal series “Forever.”
I love the original movie (remember Gary Busey as Mr. Joshua?) and had no expectation that a TV version would be anywhere near as good, but I must say I like Fox’s “Lethal” more than a lot of recent movie-to-TV adaptations like “Rush Hour,” “Minority Report,” and “The Odd Couple” (but I don't like it nearly as much as Fox’s “Exorcist” reboot arriving Friday).
Still, I got a little restless during the second half of the pilot and don’t see myself instructing my already overworked DVR to record more. All of the big-screen “Lethal” sequels are better than Riggs & Murtaugh’s first TV episode.
... unfortunately seems content to take its cues from the goofier, lighter later Lethal Weapon sequels, which already played like bad imitations of the original. … Like most of the show, Murtaugh's heart condition creates the illusion of gravitas without being interested in the real thing. This is a slick, watered-down Lethal Weapon, which is especially frustrating because it has those moments (like the ones in the later films) where it feels like it understands the point of it all, before abandoning that to do something goofier.
... A good gauge of how quickly a crime show will run out of ideas is how early it resorts to the tired old “but he was left-handed!” eureka moment to crack a case. Here, that coin is spent in the first half-hour of the first episode. Hmmm. …
... Ridiculous, yes, but it’s a show that is honest about itself, with a surprisingly endearing performance from Crawford. The question, of course, is: Did the world really need another “Lethal Weapon”? One was probably coming anyhow, either to the multiplex or a network lineup, whether audiences wanted it or not. I promise you, we could have done a lot worse. C+
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... It doesn’t much matter what the crime of the week is: The show’s appeal is in the opposites-attract bromance of Riggs and Murtaugh. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... feels extremely familiar. In part that's because the original movies set a template that we've seen imitated countless times on TV without the movie's title attached the program. Now they've gotten around to using the title, too, but it's a little too late for any of it to feel new. …
... Am I hooked? Not hooked, but not unhooked, either. I’ve seen worse in this era of endless reboots. The pilot is well-done, as it introduces the characters and a comic vibe. But no matter how appealing the buddy connection is, the weekly story lines are going to be formulaic. …
... strictly a by-the-books affair, starting with its appropriation of pre-tested characters up to and including the completely ludicrous but fun to watch McG-directed car chase. …
... plodding … lacks the original’s unusually effective blend of cop procedural, careening action, and sweaty desperation. … feels like a regurgitation of not just the film, but of several decades’ worth of cop-show formulas. Even its chase scenes are bit tiresome, and fail to set themselves apart from the thousands that play out on large and small screens every year …
8 p.m. Wednesday. Fox
