Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Fans of the original Beverly Hills Cop movies from the 80s should find this an entertainingly nostalgic trip down memory lane, but hopefully new viewers will also find plenty to enjoy in this old school action/comedy.

Premise:  When the life of his daughter, a criminal defence lawyer in Beverly Hills, is threatened after taking on a case involving corrupt cops, Detroit cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) returns to California to crack the case.

Review:

It’s fair to say that 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop pretty much reinvented the R-rated police action/comedy genre, and cemented Eddie Murphy’s status as a leading man.  Personally, I also really enjoyed 1987’s Beverly Hills Cop II with its Tony Scott-directed excesses – but the less said about the hugely disappointing Beverly Hills Cop III in 1994, the better.  But it’s now been 30 years since the last movie (and 37 years since the last good movie in the series), so I was less-than-convinced that Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F would come close to recapturing the magic of the original movies.

The truth is … it does, and it doesn’t.  The original Beverly Hills Cop was lightening in a bottle that was unlike anything that came before it (without it, there’d have arguably never been any Lethal Weapon movies or other R-rated police action/comedies), and so by definition, a fourth instalment in the series is never going to be as inventive.  But equally, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a far better belated sequel to a classic action/comedy than other recent attempts (such as 2019’s Shaft sequel).

“…delivers all of the hallmarks you’ve come to expect from the series…”

The audience for this film is likely to fall into two categories – existing fans of the series, and new viewers.  Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F leans heavily on the nostalgia factor, which is likely to generate a lot of goodwill among existing fans – it was great seeing Judge Reinhold back as Billy Rosewood, John Ashton back as John Taggart, and Paul Reiser back as Jeffrey Friedman (and even Bronson Pinchot is back as Serge, although I always found his character a little annoying).  The movie is packed full of nostalgic tracks from the original 80s soundtrack, and Lorne Balfe’s score playfully incorporates and updates the classic ‘Axel F’ theme.  Overall, the movie delivers all of the hallmarks you’ve come to expect from the series – shootouts, car chases, disapproving police bosses, and Axel Foley wisecracking and fast-talking his way out of (and into) trouble.

New viewers, however, may be harder to win over, as Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is unashamedly old school it its approach, resulting in a movie that feels more like a throwback to the 80s than a 2024 film.  There are attempts to modernise the formula (particularly with Axel’s relationships with his daughter and with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s new-cop-on-the-block), but the series has never been one to hide who the main villain is, and for the most part this film still follows the recipe from the original films, which may feel a little thinly written for some modern audiences.

“…provides all the nostalgic greatest hits that fans wanted…”

That said, Eddie Murphy brings his trademark charisma back to this fourth instalment (something that was sadly lacking in Beverly Hills Cop III), and although some of the relationship scenes between Axel and his estranged daughter Jane feel a little underwritten, Eddie Murphy and Taylour Paige give it their all and breathe life into the material.  Thankfully, the other returning characters (Rosewood, Taggart and Jeffrey) are effectively only extended cameos, leaving plenty of screentime for the new characters, including new cops Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Kevin Bacon (who are both clearly having fun appearing in a Beverly Hills Cop movie), and Luis Guzmán’s cameo as a flamboyant gangster.

Overall, while Beverley Hills Cop: Axel F doesn’t try to reinvented the formula (or perhaps because it doesn’t try to reinvent the formula), it’s an enjoyable, light-hearted and ultimately fun couple of hours that provides all the nostalgic greatest hits that fans wanted.