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Lethal Weapon 2 poster

Movies that feel likeLethal Weapon 2 (1989)

Riggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.

If you loved Lethal Weapon 2, the closest films we have are Thief (1981), 21 Grams (2003) and Police Story 2 (1988). All three share Lethal Weapon 2's tense and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Charley Varrick (1973).

🍅 82% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.3 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Richard Donnerkinetictensegrittymelancholy
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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See it on the Mood Map

If Lethal Weapon 2 hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Lethal Weapon (1987) · Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) · Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

Thief poster
Thief
1981 · dir. Michael Mann
🍅 80%★ 7.4crime · thriller · dramaPrime Video

Both are built on the same subject: grief

The difference: Trades the momentum of Lethal Weapon 2 for an angle of its own

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

21 Grams poster
21 Grams
2003 · dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
🍅 80%★ 7.6drama · crime · thriller

One thread runs through both: grief

The difference: Takes it somewhere less kinetic than Lethal Weapon 2 does

Paul Rivers, an ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English émigré; Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban housewife and mother of two girls; and Jack Jordan, a born-again ex-con, are brought together by a terrible accident that changes their lives.

Police Story 2 poster
Police Story 2
1988 · dir. Jackie Chan
🍅 84%★ 7action · crime · thrillerMax

Common ground in both: showdown and police

The Hong Kong super-cop must stop a group of blackmailing bombers at the same time that the villains of the first Police Story are out for revenge.

Charley Varrick poster
Charley Varrick
1973 · dir. Don Siegel
🍅 82%★ 7.5crime · thriller · drama

Tense and gritty in the same breath

The difference: Sits closer to drama than Lethal Weapon 2 does

Charley Varrick robs a bank in a small town with his friends, but instead of obtaining a small amount of money, they discover they stole a very large amount of money belonging to the mob. Charley must now come up with a plan to not only evade the police but the mob as well.

Point Break poster
Point Break
1991 · dir. Kathryn Bigelow
🍅 68%★ 7.3action · thriller · crimeNetflixPeacock

Kinetic action in both cases

In Los Angeles, a gang of bank robbers who call themselves The Ex-Presidents commit their crimes while wearing masks of Reagan, Carter, Nixon and Johnson. Believing that the members of the gang could be surfers, the F.B.I. sends young agent Johnny Utah to the beach undercover to mix with the surfers and gather information.

Side Effects poster
Side Effects
2013 · dir. Steven Soderbergh
🍅 82%★ 7thriller · crime · dramaPrime VideoParamount+

Thriller built on melancholy, twice over

The difference: 24 years apart, and the 2010s show

A woman turns to prescription medication as a way of handling her anxiety concerning her husband's upcoming release from prison.

Death Wish poster
Death Wish
2018 · dir. Eli Roth
🍅 18%★ 6.3action · crime · thriller

Both keep coming back to the same thing: police

The difference: The critics' underdog of the pair

A mild-mannered father is transformed into a killing machine after his family is torn apart by a violent act.

Hard Candy poster
Hard Candy
2006 · dir. David Slade
🍅 67%★ 7drama · thriller

Crime with a pulse of tension, in both cases

Hayley’s a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff’s a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff’s place. Jeff thinks it’s his lucky night. He’s in for a surprise.

Assault on Precinct 13 poster
Assault on Precinct 13
1976 · dir. John Carpenter
🍅 94%★ 7.3thriller · action · crimePrime Video

Kinetic action, and it commits to that

A highway patrol officer, two criminals, and a station secretary form an unlikely alliance to defend a defunct Los Angeles precinct against a siege by a bloodthirsty street gang.

Cell 211 poster
Cell 211
2009 · dir. Daniel Monzón
🍅 98%★ 7.6action · thriller · dramaNetflix

Both lean on melancholy more than on thriller

The story of two men on different sides of a prison riot -- the inmate leading the rebellion and the young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in a desperate attempt to survive the ordeal.

In the Line of Duty 4 poster
In the Line of Duty 4
1989 · dir. Yuen Woo-ping
★ 7.1action · crime · thriller

Gritty crime, and it commits to that

Two detectives who are up to their necks in trouble and in each other's face, as they try to shut down a drug-trafficking scheme that could be connected with international ties to organized crime. But in the midst of their investigation, innocent immigrant dock worker Luk Wan-Ting gets caught up in the mix when he witnesses the murder of an intelligence operative and is framed for the crime.

Frailty poster
Frailty
2002 · dir. Bill Paxton
🍅 76%★ 7.2drama · thriller · crime

Tense thriller in both cases

A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to kill people who were in fact "demons."

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The best-reviewed films that share Lethal Weapon 2’s defining feeling.