Summary
Eddie Murphy has now madeBeverly Hills Copmovies for 4 decades, with the fourth entry, Netflix’sBeverly Hills Cop: Axel Ftaking 30 of those years to make it to the screen. By now, Murphy is far less prolific, having made only a handful of movies sinceDolemite Is My Namebrought him back into the limelight, but in the 1980s, he was as big a star as it’s possible to imagine.
Hot off his incredibly popular run onSaturday Night Live, Murphy had already made48 HoursandTrading Places, coolly fitting into Hollywood with the same swagger that would make Axel Foley so instantly popular. The original movie was energetic, charming, and funny, and made enough money that the industry wanted more.
Diminishing returns somewhat inevitably followed, withtwo progressively inferior sequels, but the franchise is finally back on the right track. So how doesBeverly Hills Cop: Axel Fcompare to the original trilogy? Has Netflix really recaptured the magic?
Eddie Murphy also returned for a Beverly Hills Cop TV pilot, which was intended to be a legacy spin-off centered on his son Aaron (Brandon T. Jackson). Sadly, CBS didn’t option the show.
Every Eddie Murphy Action Movie, Ranked Worst To Best
Eddie Murphy has many action movies in his filmography, but how do they all rank alongside one another, including the Beverly Hills Cop trilogy?
Beverly Hills Cop 3
Cast
Beverly Hills Cop 3 is the third installment in the action-comedy series starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley. Directed by John Landis, the film follows Foley as he heads to Southern California to investigate the murder of his boss while uncovering a counterfeit money scheme connected to an amusement park. Judge Reinhold returns as Detective Billy Rosewood, providing comedic support throughout the investigation.
If Eddie Murphy had got his own way,Beverly Hills Cop 3would never have actually happened. Five years before the sequel hit cinemas to an apathetic audience that failed to turn out, Murphy had said it shouldn’t be made:
“There’s no reason to do it. I don’t need the money, and it’s not gonna break any new ground. How often can you have Axel Foley talk fast and get into a place he doesn’t belong? But these motherf*ckers are developing scripts for it.
Sadly, whatever convinced him to actually make it wasn’t enough to make him enthusiastic about it in his performance. Director John Landis tends to take the heat for the movie’s failure, and there are certainly grave issues with the script and story, but Murphy’s listless performance is a gnawing low-point.
He apparentlysought a more serious tone for Axel Foley in his return, putting him squarely at odds with Landis' usual style, and sucking almost all the joy out of the movie. This is not the fast-paced action comedy of the first entries: it’s a frightfully dull moslty-just-actioner that doesn’t seem to want to take advantage of any of the franchise’s former magic.
There are rare standouts - like the return of Bronson Pinchot’s Serge - but even that comes with the baffling caveat that he’s now a sort of fashionista/arms dealer to the stars. The fact thatGeorge Lucas' equally baffling cameo is about the most memorable thing about it is poor testimony.
Beverly Hills Cop 2
Beverly Hills Cop 2 continues the story of Axel Foley, a Detroit detective played by Eddie Murphy, as he returns to Beverly Hills to help his friends solve a series of heists linked to a criminal mastermind. Directed by Tony Scott, this sequel sees Foley teaming up with Beverly Hills detectives Rosewood and Taggart to unravel the case while blending action and comedy.
Perhaps it’s nostalgia, but I don’t rememberBeverly Hills Cop IIbeing as bad as its critical reception suggests. It did most of what made the original movie such great fun, providing Eddie Murphy with the opportunity to crack wise and be cool. It also came with the innate stamp of approval associated with directorTony Scott, who proves himself far more capable than John Landis did 7 years later.
This is, though, formula sequel-making in action - which Eddie Murphy obviously felt himself, given his comments in 1989 - but at this point, it hasn’t outgrown its welcome. The plot feels like an excuse to get more Axel Foley screen time, and there’s a bit more of an outrageous tone, which comes slightly at the cost of the comedy.
Plainly, it’s not quite as funny, not quite as charming, and absolutely not new and exciting. But it’s enjoyable enough to make it. a lot less immediately skippable than its follow-up.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley is the fourth film in the popular comedy franchise starring Eddie Murphy. Murphy returns as Axel Foley in the Netflix film alongside returning cast members Judge Reinhold and John Ashton and Bronson Pinchot as Serge. Kevin Bacon and Joseph Gordon-Levitt also star in the sequel as new characters.
30 years after the third entry in the series, Eddie Murphy finally returned as his most famous live-action character, and it was worth the wait. Taking a similar line to other legacy sequels likeTop Gun: MaverickandCreed, but not throwing out the best of the franchise’s formula,Axel Fis a strong blend of nostalgia and legacy.Murphy is on good form, more believably softening Axel’s humorin contrast toBeverly Hills Cop III’s more forced hand.
There’s more of a contemplative tone, as director Mark Molloy steers through heavier waters reflecting on a new age of policing. And mercifully, there’s no unnecessary anti-woke messaging, which could have been very tempting given the usual “fish out of water” story. Instead, we get to see an older Axel in very familiar circumstances, withfreshness afforded by Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s new sidekick Abbott, and Foley’s daughter Jane (Taylour Paige).
The plot is hardly transformative, and the villain twist is as subtle as a snow plow careening through a city, but sometimes familiarity is comfortable. The returns of old headsBilly Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton)are catnip to franchise fans, and there’s more than enough hope for the future.
Beverly Hills Cop
Eddie Murphy stars in Beverly Hills Cop as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit police officer who travels to California to solve his friend’s murder. Directed by Martin Brest, the film was a critical and commercial success, spawning three sequels.
Sometimes it’s just too hard to argue with the original. Forty years after its release,Beverly Hills Copis still one of the best 1980s action comedies ever made.Deliciously taking advantage of Eddie Murphy’s rising star- which earned him the useful privilege of freedom to improvise - it’s a great culture clash movie, and Axel Foley is like a hand grenade.
Beverly Hills Cop was originally written as an action vehicle for Sylvester Stallone before Eddie Murphy was cast.
The culture clash storyline, which quickly became a formula for its sequels, saw Foley gleefully “bending the law” as his forced partners/babysitters Taggart and Rosewood offered balance.While Murphy gets the plaudits, the dynamic between the three most prominent characters is enormously rewarding, with still-stylish action sequences by director Martin Brest.
It’s not Murphy’s best film - that’s eitherDolemite Is My Name,Trading Places, orDreamgirls- but it was a hell of an announcement to his star quality. And the fact that Axel Foley became such an iconic character without any truly great sequels is as good a testament to the original as any.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axl F is available to stream on Netflix now.
