Eddie Murphy cheerfully shoots his way through California’s wrong ‘uns in a charming revival of a 40-year-old franchise. Here’s our Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F review.
As the first Beverly Hills Cop movie to be released after its iconic theme was covered by Crazy Frog, Axel F perhaps lands on Netflix with more baggage than most.
It’s landing straight on Netflix, for a start, in a period where the streamer’s original output hasn’t been exactly glowing (Richard Linklater’s Hit Man being a notable exception). Action-comedy The Fall Guy just failed to set the box office alight, and after years of sequels, reboots, and sequel-reboots, it’s easy to imagine that we’re approaching peak franchise-fatigue. Was anyone really asking for a Beverly Hills Cop 4?
The answer might well be no, but, now that it’s here, I’m happy to report that Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a cosy, explosive delight. Combining a light-as-a-feather, breezy tone with some great set pieces and just enough character stuff to convince us the Netflix film is shaped like an actual movie, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Mark Molloy and Eddie Murphy clearly understand what an audience wants from arguably SNL’s biggest breakout star. Sure, Axel F doesn’t reinvent the wheel – but with a lead and a premise as likeable as this one, why would you want it to?
This time around, ol’ Axel is up to his usual hijinks in a particularly snowy Detroit. After a high-speed chase in a snowplough serves as either a loving homage to, or shameless rip-off of, the opening of the first film, Paul Reiser’s Jeffrey Friedman offers his resignation to keep Foley on the force. At the same time, Axel’s estranged daughter, Jane (Taylour Paige) is now a hotshot California lawyer – and she’s taken on a case which could get her in trouble with the wrong people…
Not to worry, because detective Axel Foley has a few airmiles to use up. Popping back to his old Beverly Hills stomping ground with a gun in his jeans and a mystery to solve, can he stop Kevin Bacon’s moustache-twirling corrupt police captain from killing his daughter long enough for them to fix their relationship?
You know, I’m willing to bet he can. If he works fast enough, he might even persuade her to get back together with her super-cop ex-boyfriend, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Detective Bobby Abbott who, 12 years after The Dark Knight Rises, still makes a good Robin to Murphy’s Batman.
Packed with legacy cast members whose main role seems to be to highlight how well Eddie Murphy has aged (a good 20 percent of the jokes revolve around this premise), you can’t accuse Axel F of being afraid to play the hits. That’s not a metaphor, either – the decision to rename the film after the series’ most iconic track is no coincidence, as it plays almost constantly.
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No, the fourth Beverly Hills Cop film is unashamedly 80s in a way that could easily descend into cynical nostalgia-bait, but instead largely rises above the trappings that come with resurrecting a 40-year-old franchise. There are a few nudge-nudge-wink-wink nods here and there, and the odd stale quip about how John Ashton’s Taggart doesn’t get on with his wife, but for the most part, Axel F’s comedy stems from ludicrous vehicle chases, funny quips, and Eddie Murphy being, well, Eddie Murphy. If the film proves one thing after last year’s culture-clash comedy You People it’s that, given the right material, the stand-up legend can still charm everyone’s socks off and then some (You People, just so we’re clear, was not the right material).
In the end, Axel F is the good version of what you’d expect from Beverly Hills Cop 4. Solidly constructed and delivered with charm, if this was in the cinema it’d have popcorn-movie written all over it. As it is, it’s just a ruddy good night in. Switch your brain to “comforting background noise” and enjoy.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is streaming on Netflix now.
