Picture: Netflix
30 years after the franchise’s previous installment, the Beverly Hills Cop film series is back. Netflix and comedy superstar Eddie Murphy have revived Detroit Police Detective Axel Foley and his multi-city crew to take on one more case.
Helmed by first-time feature film director Mark Molloy on a script from Bad Boys: Ride or Die scribe Will Beall & The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent team of Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten, the film centers on Foley (Murphy), still a detective chasing bad guys in the streets of Detroit, who now has to answer to a longtime friend on the force Jeffrey Friedman (Paul Reiser reprising his role).
While he still calls Detroit his home, they still love him in Beverly Hills … Well, maybe not everyone. He may have some friends in and around their police department – most notably Taggart & Rosewood (John Ashton & Judge Reinhold, of course) – but he also has one key figure in his life, his daughter Jane (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom co-star Taylour Paige), who has been estranged from him for several years.
Like all Beverly Hills Cop films, Axel makes his way to sunny California after a case puts those closest to him in danger. Axel receives a call from Rosewood notifying him that Jane has been targeted, threatened, and nearly killed by a group of masked men demanding she back off her latest court case as a lawyer for a potentially innocent cop killer. After Rosewood goes missing following a break in the case, it’s up to Foley, Jane, & BHPD detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to find him and take down those responsible for the fallen police officer’s death.
While Axel Foley’s position in career & life seems very similar to 30 years ago, life for Eddie Murphy the actor, the buddy cop subgenre, & studio comedies in general have changed quite a bit.
Over the last decade, Eddie Murphy, like most studio comedies, has mostly taken his talents to streaming as he has tried to recapture some of his old comedy magic with some familiar characters; most notably, the sequel to the 1988 Murphy-led classic Coming To America, Coming 2 America, released on Prime Video in 2021.
With that long-awaited sequel finally being produced and garnering positive viewing numbers, it’s obviously no shock that a Beverly Hills Cop sequel would also come to streaming soon thereafter, especially with another crime comedy franchise, Will Smith & Martin Lawrence’s Bad Boys films, returned to make money at the box office before the world shut down in Spring of 2020.
So, after being in development hell at Paramount since the late 90s, we finally have a Beverly Hills Cop film back in our lives (thanks primarily to producer Jerry Bruckheimer). But what kind of Beverly Hills Cop movie would we have?
Picture: Netflix
The first two films have a charged-up, youthful, & definitely more crass version of Murphy with a working-class attitude and an edgier look & tone, with directors like Martin Brest (Midnight Run) & Tony Scott (Top Gun, True Romance) leading the charge. The 3rd film reunites Murphy with director John Landis (Coming to America) for a far more polished & sanitized version of these films set in an amusement park with a post-stand up/post-SNL Murphy heading towards his Nutty Professor/Doctor Dolittle family friendly phase of his career.
So, where does this installment fit in? Well, Axel F finds itself matching the tone & effort of Murphy, a lead trying to find the energy & brashness of his former self but mostly settling for layups instead of windmill jams. It’s filled with nostalgic call-backs and older actors coming out of the woodwork, which, besides Murphy’s facade, are the things that make this film feel like part of the franchise and not just a generic cop movie that they slapped a brand name on.
Picture: Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix
Axel F operates at a different register than the other 3 films. It feels more indebted to the most recent Bad Boys films or Coming 2 America version of Murphy than it does the original 3 films (especially the first 2). It’s a reunion tour with fragments of familiarity that will be enough for most people to feel satisfied, but it won’t look & feel like the franchise we enjoyed decades ago.
While this may sound like a dour review, there are definitely positives to take away for a fun Friday movie night in your living room.
First and foremost, the cast is deep with many strong, familiar actors that are both old faces & new to the franchise. The chemistry between Murphy, Paige, & Gordon-Levitt is quite enjoyable at times and makes for some of the more compelling moments in the film; And Judge Reinhold seems amped up to be back in the fold after a 7 year hiatus, which makes the ending especially have more zip. While generic in character, Kevin Bacon also seems to pop when he enters the fray and delights in being duplicitous in nature.
PIcture: Netflix
The film also has plenty of action. Multiple shootouts, car chases, & even a helicopter chase give fans a reason to crank up the home stereo. They even go mini Jason Bourne with a meter maid buggy chase down a flight of stairs, but make it BHC by blasting “The Neutron Dance” while doing it.
Overall, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a big-budget karaoke version of the Beverly Hills Cop franchise that flexes its muscles with snow plow gun fights, low-flying helicopter chases, and a deep, notable cast. Murphy can’t dial up the Foley of old that often, and the movie plays more on nostalgia than edginess or working-class snark. Still, the film is engaging enough to satiate audiences looking for a simple good time at home. Good to see Reinhold & Ashton again. It’s good to hear Bob Seger’s “Shakedown” & “Neutron Dance” again. But I can’t imagine wanting this version of Beverly Hills Cop again.
Watch Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F If You Like
- Beverly Hills Cop 1-3
- Lethal Weapon 4
- Rush Hour 3
- Bad Boys For Life
MVP of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley
Even if he isn’t THAT Eddie Murphy, he’s still Eddie freakin’ Murphy.
At 63 years old, Murphy still looks great and can delight audiences with his charisma, charm, and boyish humor, which we’ve all enjoyed since the early 80s.
While the script for Axel F is mostly pedestrian, Eddie and his trademark presence will always draw you and make you want to join the party. Sure, he may get into less shenanigans, swear a lot less, & talk about fatherhood more and more, but he still knows how to have fun and look like he’s having fun doing it.
While it struggles to conjure up the hallmarks of what made the franchise successful, Murphy & Company gives just enough thrills and throwbacks to justify its existence.