Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Review
Thereâs an art to crafting modern sequels to movies that otherwise put a full stop on their stories way back in the â80s or â90s. Some nail it; many donât. Fortunately, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is one of the former. Smartly assembled to feel like an authentic continuation of the original trilogy rather than an arbitrary reinvention of it (or worse, a toned-down, PG facsimile), Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is vintage Eddie Murphy set to a vintage soundtrack.
When his defence attorney daughter is threatened with death unless she drops a case, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F sees everyoneâs favourite âMotor City s–t magnetâ return to the now influencer-infested streets of Beverly Hills to unravel the conspiracy at play. The story from writer Will Beall (who, coincidentally enough, also co-wrote last monthâs equally entertaining and equally⊠fourth Bad Boys: Ride or Die) primarily pits Foley against a crew of dirty cops and, yes, it could admittedly be cut from the cloth of any number of action movies made over the last four-or-so decades. To be fair, however, itâs a setup thatâs distinct from the original three Beverly Hills Cop movies (which saw Foley take on drug smugglers, gunrunners, and counterfeiters), so it isnât a superficial re-tread of any one of them in particular. Axel F does begin with an immediate homage to the opening moments of the original Beverly Hills Cop, reintroducing viewers to Axel himself as he cruises through Detroit in his slightly less crappy, blue Chevy Nova, but itâs a totally warranted indulgence that starts the movie off on the right foot.
Murphy appears entirely at ease as Axel Foley for the first time since 1994.
Murphy appears entirely at ease as Axel Foley for the first time since 1994. In terms of his raw screen presence, heâs not as outright remarkable here as he was throughout his unimpeachable performance in 2019âs Dolemite Is My Name, but Murphy has effectively hooked straight back into what makes Axel Foley tick. Foley remains a savvy and streetwise detective and a masterful social engineer whoâs still able to instantly invent brash and regularly hilarious new identities in the spur of the moment, but his overall attitude is authentically tempered by his age in 2024. Donât get me wrong: Foley is still solving crimes by the seat of his pants here â heâs just a little wiser and a little more tired than he was last century. Importantly, Foley is also never the butt of the joke, nor sidelined from leading the story â and if you were as disappointed with Coming 2 Americaâs family-friendly overhaul as I was, rest assured that hasnât happened here.
The roles for other returning characters from the original trilogy are mostly modest, but they reappear in nicely logical ways. Paul Reiserâs Jeffrey Friedman has a pitch perfect reintroduction, pivoting from his previous role as Foleyâs fellow detective to his 2024 gig as Foleyâs entertainingly exasperated superior officer. Judge Reinholdâs Billy Rosewood doesnât get a ton of screen time, but Reinhold successfully brings Rosewood back as the sensitive, Sylvester Stallone fan we remember. John Ashton is also back as a now-unretired John Taggart, and itâs nice to see him again even if his role is a little undermined by his surprising uncooperativeness (which seems somewhat discordant with the fact that he and Foley have supposedly been friends for 40 years at this point). Bronson Pinchotâs brief but triumphant return as Serge is a major highlight.
He still sounds like a detergent.The key new characters this time around are Joseph Gordon-Levittâs Detective Bobby Abbott, and Taylour Paige as Foleyâs daughter, Jane. Gordon-Levitt is likeable as a committed and observant detective who respects Foleyâs reputation without being intimidated by him. Paige gives an assertive performance too, although her backstory is quite light so itâs a little harder to sympathise with her disdain for her dadâs concern (estranged or otherwise, being dangled out of a multi-storey parking garage is probably a good enough reason for your uncommonly talented, crime-solving dad to want to help you uncover the culprits).
Axel F remains sturdily in sync with its own â80s and â90s predecessors.
Axel F doesnât reinvent the seriesâ brand of action, but I honestly wouldnât have wanted it to. The combat and car chases may come off as a little conventional in comparison to fellow buddy cop blockbuster Bad Boys: Ride or Die, but anything more would have risked turning Axel F into a video game-inspired aberration rather than something that felt authentically like a continuation of the Beverly Hills Cop saga. As far as Iâm concerned, director Mark Molloy (helming his first feature film) has nailed the brief in this regard. Bad Boys directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah may have pushed the boat out when shooting the fantastic action sequences of Ride or Die â with their experimental and flair-filled approach expanding on the already highly kinetic style Michael Bay established in both Bad Boys and Bad Boys II â but Axel F remains sturdily in sync with its own â80s and â90s predecessors. As Taggart barks to Rosewood late in the piece, âShoot bad guys!â Sometimes thatâs all I really need my action heroes to do, and thereâs an old-school, pre-shakey cam sincerity to simply having shot-up stunt performers tumbling down stairs to a pulsing synth soundtrack that I find endearing.
Molloy does nudge the needle a little at one stage with a well-executed and ludicrously low altitude helicopter chase, but he softens the sheer improbability of it by having Foley and Abbott spend the entire sequence loudly terrified of it all going wrong. It eventually does (naturally), but that just brings on a strong contender for the most unpredictable cameo appearance of all time. Youâll know it when you see it; trust me.
Likewise, Lorne Balfeâs synth-laden score feels like itâs been lifted directly from 1984. It certainly sounds in harmony with composer Harold Faltermeyerâs fabulous work on the original Beverly Hills Cop and Beverly Hill Cop II, and it plays a huge role in keeping the atmosphere of the â80s alive in Axel F. There are also several energising, retro songs throughout that, yes, are unashamedly resurrected from the original films. However, in the words of The Pointer Sisters, itâs hard to say just how some things never change. Thereâs only one clanger in the mix, and thatâs Lil Nas Xâs new track âHere We Go!â Built specifically for this movie around Faltermeyerâs iconic âAxel Fâ riff, âHere We Go!â sits fine upon the filmâs credits, but the low tempo trap track is a poor fit for the final car chase. For a moment, it feels a little like one of those YouTube edits where someone puts unexpected replacement music over your favourite movie scenes to waste your time and bandwidth. Itâs a small blemish, but itâs an odd one considering Axel F is so rooted in â80s reverence everywhere else.
VerdictWith a tone consistent with the original trilogy, a straightforward premise that creates space for fresh faces without disrespecting the main character, and a well-paced mix of comedy, action, and silky smooth synth riffs, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a highly watchable return to form for Eddie Murphy. The heat is definitely back on.
