I hadn’t watched this one since it came out, and I don’t remember loving it. That was over twenty years ago, and I watched it anew. And man, I loved it. It’s so funny. The sight gags are great, the cameos are hilarious, and the cast is perfect.

Emilio Estevez and Samuel L. Jackson lead the cast as Riggs and Murtaugh clones Colt and Luger. They square off against Colt’s former CO turned drug-dealer (cocaine hidden as cookies) General Mortars (William Shatner), and his right hand man, Mr. Jigsaw (Tim Curry).

Aiding Colt and Luger is Miss Demeanor (Kathy Ireland) who works for Mortars, but realizes he’s a bad dude.

From there, the film delivers sight gags, riffs on familiar scenes, plays with tropes and recreates pop culture moments. And Estevez and Jackson seem to be having a great time, and Shatner is a delight as the villain.

Sure this movie is over thirty years old, but I don’t want to ruin the surprise of the cameos which actually delighted me to no end. Nothing is safe in this film. Not only does it take shots at the Lethal Weapon franchise, but there’s a hilarious poke at Basic Instinct, and while not all of the film works, enough of it does that I found myself really enjoying it.

Curry and Shatner are as great together a Jackson and Estevez, and it’s absolutely wild to realize all the people they got to appear in this film.

The film doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, but it’s also noticeably shorter than even an hour and a half. By one hour and seventeen minutes you are into the credits, and I honestly thing they could have filled out the story, and the moments a little more.

It’s goofy, it’s silly, and I hated it when it came out originally, but either time, or I have been kind to this movie, and I really enjoyed it this time out. Some of the sequences look great, like the helicopter attack on the trailer. And some look like goofy sets.

But I will say this, the comedic continuity, and callbacks from previous gags, is top-notch. Estevez parodies Riggs’ look perfectly, and the confusion over who Claire is to him makes for some funny moments between him and Luger.

This is also one of those films where something always seems to be going on in the background, or there are throwaway lines to listen for. This was a hoot, and obviously it was just the right moment for me to watch it.

I may hate it if I ever watch it again, but for this moment, I dug it.