Time: 115 Minutes
Age Rating: 16 – Offensive language, violence
Cast:
Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Detective Bobby Abbott
Kevin Bacon as Captain Cade Grant
Taylour Paige as Jane Saunders
Judge Reinhold as Billy Rosewood
John Ashton as Chief John Taggart
Paul Reiser as Jeffrey
Bronson Pinchot as Serge
Director: Mark Molloy

I really liked the Beverly Hills Cop movies (at least the first two which I’ve seen). They were entertaining, funny, and Eddie Murphy is fantastic in the lead role. When I heard that there was going to be a legacy sequel released on Netflix decades after the latest instalment, I had some doubts. Still, I was curious enough to check it out, and I’m happy to say that I was satisfied with Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

One could hypothetically watch Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F without having seen any of the previous movies in the series, but it has characters returning from the first two movies, so the experience might be lacking. It definitely plays on nostalgia, but not so much that the film gets caught up in it, and the callbacks don’t feel cynical. For what it’s worth, Axel F makes a joke about the third movie not being Axel Foley’s finest moment, so if you’re like me and haven’t seen that much derided sequel, you aren’t missing anything. In some ways, Axel F is a legacy sequel in the sense that it’s a sequel released decades after the last movie and its returning characters are notably older. That said, I don’t think it falls into the typical legacy sequel trappings; it is a worthy Beverly Hills Cop sequel, with the humor of 1 and the action of 2. It also has a good balance of the old and the new; the new characters add something different, but the film also doesn’t try to unnecessarily reinvent things. It’s just aiming for a good time, and it absolutely succeeds at that. Foley gets into the usual shenanigans, while acknowledging that he’s very much an older man compared to his previous adventures, and doesn’t shy away how he and the returning characters have changed over the years. It is a very funny movie with a lot of hilarious situations and good gags throughout, with only the occasional one or two that don’t work (one extended segment involving returning character Serge unfortunately is an example of this).

Eddie Murphy returns as his iconic role of Axel Foley and he hasn’t missed a beat. He lets loose, has fun and has perfect comic timing as always. At no point does he feel tired or forced at all, it’s the same Foley, just a little older. Joseph-Gordon Levitt plays Foley’s sidekick and he’s pitch perfect and a natural fit in this role, and shares really good chemistry with Murphy. Taylour Paige plays Foley’s daughter, and unfortunately one of the more negative aspects of the movie is that it falls into one of the legacy sequel trappings and tropes where a returning character is disconnected from their child and has a difficult relationship with them. It’s not done well here and was one of the biggest drags on an otherwise really fun movie. At the very least though, Paige and Murphy perform these scenes well. Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser reprise their roles and they haven’t lost their touch either, though I did wish that Reinhold was in it a bit more. Kevin Bacon plays the main villain of the movie as a corrupt cop, and while some reviews have criticized the fact that he was far too obvious as a villain, its blatantly obvious from his first scene that he was a main villain, so it was refreshing to see the film not attempt to pretend that there is a genuine mystery. Bacon has a lot of fun in his part, and is one of the better antagonists of the series.

Mark Molloy directs Axel F, and it was actually surprising to learn that this is his first film, because his directing work here is slick and solid. It’s not quite reaching Tony Scott’s work on the second movie, but Molloy was no slouch by any means; he clearly has a good eye and its well shot. The action isn’t the most well known aspect of these movies, but they are generally pretty good, with the first movie and especially the second movie. That’s the case with Axel F too, whether it be car chases or gunfights, and a sequence involving a helicopter was the highlight of it all. The Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack and themes are so iconic and memorable, so it was nice hearing the familiar themes again. Lorne Balfe does an excellent job with the score, which felt like an extension on the original music.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F isn’t at the level of the first two films, but was still a satisfying sequel, entertaining, hilarious, well directed and with a good cast, including Eddie Murphy who hasn’t missed a beat. Honestly it is a real shame that this movie wasn’t shown in the cinema, between the comedy and the action, this really could’ve been a real crowdpleaser. Still, even on Netflix, it is solid and worth watching.