Loaded with the usual elements, Lethal Weapon 2 benefits from a consistency of tone that was lacking in the first film. This time, screenwriter Jeffrey Boam [working from a story by Shane Black and Warren Murphy] and director Richard Donner have wisely trained their sights on humor and the considerable charm of Mel Gibson and Danny Glover’s onscreen rapport.

They’ve also dreamed up particularly nasty villains and incorporated enough chases and shootouts to hold the attention of a hyperactive nine-year-old.

Plot sets the duo after South African diplomats using their shield of immunity to smuggle drugs. Tagging along for the ride in a hilarious comic turn is Joe Pesci as an unctuous accountant who laundered the baddies’ money and now needs witness protection to stay out of the washing machine himself.

There’s also a fleeting entanglement between Riggs (Mel Gibson) and the lead villain’s secretary (the sparkling Patsy Kensit) that adds some welcome sex appeal.