At the pier when he tells Riggs he's responsible for his wife's death because there was a contract out on him and he was shocked to see his wife's face instead of his, doesn't that make him asking Riggs towards the beginning if he was Martin Riggs seem weird? If he was carrying out a hit on him don't you think he'd know what he looks like? Small thing that nags me about an otherwise kick ass movie.
shareIf the trivia is to be believed, you can chalk this one up to rewrites. The question of whether Riggs would survive in the end was up in the air (Shane Black wanted to kill him off, Donner wanted him to live), so I can easily see that whole contract killing business being cooked up after the "You Martin Riggs?" scene was filmed.
It's possible, at least.
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I mean, I could give you singles if the plan is to make it rain at the Lobster Box.
From what i heard about the plot for Shane Black's original script, Vorstedt character (originally called Benedict) was originally quite different but during the course of the story he and Riggs did became sworn enemies, kinda like Riggs and Joshua in the first film. I'm pretty sure that entire thing about him being hired to kill Riggs and instead killing his wife was something that Jeffrey Boam added into the script after Black quit and more graphic parts of the story and characters got drastically changed, so another reason for Riggs wanting to kill Vorstedt, other than him killing his friends and Rika, was added.
Like it's been mentioned, it makes no sense for someone who is supposed to be hired hitman to not know the face of his target, so Vorstedt not recognizing Riggs when they first meet in the movie is like you said plot hole that's the result of re-writes. But again, maybe there was some similar backstory between the two in Black's original script, or like in the first movie he and Riggs were just two professionals on opposite sides who wanted to kill one another to prove who is better.
was something that Jeffrey Boam added into the script after Black quit and more graphic parts of the story and characters got drastically changed, so another reason for Riggs wanting to kill Vorstedt, other than him killing his friends and Rika, was added.I've never liked this shoehorned motivation, personally. But you might be right; it sounds like Boam may have added it.
Let's say that Riggs' wife was killed 5 years ago, and when Vorstedt took the job he got a picture and some information on his target. It's not like he has kept the picture even after the contract was closed and looked at it every night before going to sleep.
He probably never even met with him before that day and after hearing his name, he put two-and-two together.
Or how about this:
Vorstedt was just told that Riggs would be driving in a certain car and that's all he knew. So he ran the car off the cliff and killed his wife. Hence, he never met or saw Riggs. I know, it's a long shot and pretty lame, but it would explain why he'd never seen him.
I guess everyone also forgot about the whole story about the gold pen?
shareRiggs used to have short hair when he was married, which is why Vorstedt asked him.
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