Today we’re answering one of the most important questions in the holiay season: Is Lethal Weapon a Christmas movie? It absolutely is, and not just is it a Christmas movie, it’s one of the best Christmas movies.
Why are we even answering this question? Because it’s important. If you need to know if Lethal Weapon is a Christmas movie, the first thing you need to understand is that all great Christmas movies share a similar central theme: redemption. If you look at holiday classic White Christmas, the entire movie carries themes of redemption in it. Even more obviously, so does the one of the all time greatest movies ever: It’s a Wonderful Life. In fact, Lethal Weapon follows an extremely similar theme to the Jimmy Stewart classic.
In Wonderful Life, Stewart’s character is despondent, and near suicidal, when he jumps off a bridge to save someone. In Lethal Weapon, Martin Riggs is similarly suicidal and despondent, and jumps off a building to save someone. This action starts his journey of redemption, as Murtaugh acts as a human version of the angel Clarence. Throughout Wonderful Life, the angel takes Jimmy Stewart on a journey that shows him the value he has added to people’s lives. Similarly, Murtaugh takes Riggs on the same journey, showing him that even though he doesn’t feel worthy, Riggs can change people’s lives for the better. Mostly by shooting bad guys in the face, but still.
At the end of the movie, Riggs literally grapples with the enemy. Just like Jimmy Stewart grappled with his demons the whole movie, but can only overcome them with the help of Clarence, in the end of Lethal Weapon, it takes the team of Murtaugh and Riggs to put the bad guy down for good. The movie ends on a symbolic note as Riggs joins Murtaugh’s family for Christmas dinner. As you can see, not only is Lethal Weapon a Christmas movie, it’s one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time.
