People love nostalgia in movies, and that’s why plenty of legacy characters get a comeback decades later. The first Beverly Hills Cop was released 40 years ago in 1984, Eddie Murphy was just a young’un 23-year-old at the time. Dayum, the comedian still looks pretty darn good for being 63! I had only seen the first movie and my memory about it is a bit hazy, but the trailer of this new one looked like fun.
Murphy still got that Cheshire cat grin, wisecracking humor, and rebellious spirit. He’s older though not necessarily wiser, Foley always manages to shake things up whether he’s in Detroit or Beverly Hills. This time it involves his estranged daughter Jane (Taylour Paige), a defense attorney whose life is in danger after taking on a case to represent an accused cop killer who claims he’s innocent.
I was prepared to just check my brain at the door and just enjoy it for the laughs and some fun action, but surprisingly I find the story pretty engaging though the plot involving some dirty cops is something we’ve all seen before. The script is utterly predictable that Kevin Bacon’s character is the rotten bad apple within BHPD and Bacon relishes being a smarmy albeit unthreatening villain.
The father and daughter relationship adds a smidgen of depth to the story, though at times Paige seems to take things too seriously that there’s a bit of disconnect with Murphy’s comedic style. Still, I’m impressed with Jane’s no-nonsense poise who refuses to take sh*# from her absentee father. There’s some serious chemistry between Paige and her former lover, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s detective Abbott, who becomes Foley’s unlikely ally. I enjoy the silly banter and snappy dialog, and Mark Molloy did a good job with the pacing and dynamic action I was surprised this is his first feature. There are a few fun chases and the helicopter scene is a hoot!
Fans of the franchise will surely enjoy seeing returning cast members: Judge Reinhold (Rosewood), Judge Reinhold (Taggert), Paul Reiser (Friedman), and Bronson Pinchot (Serge). For me, it’s amusing to see Reiser who I love in the Mad About You TV show and Pinchot will always be Balki from Perfect Strangers. Composer Lorne Balfe gives plenty of nods to the iconic theme song by Harold Faltermeyer while making the music sound contemporary.
The best part of this fourth installment is still Eddie Murphy who’s effortlessly funny, even when he makes a casual mention of ‘onion’ I immediately laugh thinking of his Shrek donkey character. Overall it’s a fun action flick that’s perfect for streaming. It’s light and fun with an undemanding plot that mostly coasts on the nostalgia factor.
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I do hope to see this hopefully this month as I’m a fan of the first 2 films as they were staples in my childhood. Being a 13-year old kid to see the third film in the theaters was such a disappointing experience as it lacked the grit and humor of those first 2 films.
I’ve only seen the first one years ago which was a lot of fun, but glad I skipped the third one. One of the characters even made a veiled jab about the third one being the worst in the franchise.
I enjoyed the first half of the movie but then it’s just repeat of the first two movies and constant callbacks to those films annoyed me. Murphy looked bore in it and it appears he just wanted to get this movie done with since he’s been trying to get it made for many years. Even during action scenes, he didn’t do much. I get it he’s in his 60s now but he didn’t look like he wanted to do anything at all. Lol!
It’s still better than the terrible part 3.
Well, since it’s been ages since I saw the first one, I didn’t mind those callbacks. I did find the segment with Bronson Pinchot a bit over the top but I thought Murphy looks like he’s having fun here, it’s the girl playing the daughter who looks too serious. In any case, it was enjoyable enough to watch on a Saturday night.
His daughter character is basically Taggert in this one and Gordon Levitt is Billy. In the first two films, Axel, Billy and Taggert were the ones that solved the “mystery” and Taggart was always the serious one.
My guess is that Netlfix is hoping to make a few more of these movies and having Axel’s daughter as his new sidekick would be good for the franchise.
Ah ok make sense, well if Taylour Paige is back in future BHC movies, I hope she lightens up a bit, ahah.
Beverly Hills cop is an enjoyable movie to watch. 3 out of 5 🎞️ is a good rating. as an old Detroiter, a 1987 Robocop cameo appearance would’ve been nostalgically epic
Ahah, Beverly Hills cop + Robocop crossover would be such a hoot! Someone ought to write Foley collaborating with Detroit PD and got assigned a case with Robocop as his partner!!
I haven’t seen this movie, but it’s up on the movie selections on TV and I was thinking of giving it a try. I did enjoy the originals.
3/5 reels is decent, but not great. I won’t rush to watch it, but it’s on the list for sure now.
Thanks for the honest review, Ruth!
It’s pretty fun if you like the original and Eddie’s brand of humor, Resa. It’s not great, but it’s entertaining enough to watch on a slow night.
Great reviews as always. I’m not sure whether this is a movie that I will see because I never saw the original “Beverly Hills Cop” movies. I didn’t grow up watching those movies and have never been a big fan of Eddie Murphy. That being said, I do love a good old-fashioned buddy cop movie. Over the past decade, it’s been rare to come across films in this genre. It’s become a genre that is firmly rooted in the past. However, there have been certain films that have brought the genre back to life. For instance, “The Nice Guys” was a superb buddy cop movie that delivered on every level. It followed the similar formula as “Beverly Hills Cop”, but it worked extremely well. I absolutely loved “The Nice Guys”, which was one of my favorite films of 2016. So, I might check out “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” when it hits streaming. Thanks for the recommendation.
Here’s why I loved “The Nice Guys”:
I’ve only seen the first movie, Hassan but I still had a great time with this one as it delivers plenty of laughs. Eddie Murphy is a comic genius and I love seeing Joseph Gordon-Levitt here too.
I agree that buddy cop comedies are fun and The Nice Guys are a hoot! I would love to see a sequel of that with both Crowe and Gosling, an unlikely pairing that work very well! I know Crowe can be very funny but it’s surprising to see Gosling display his comedic chops!
This movie is a delight and faithful to spirit of all the Beverly Hills Cops (Never saw #3). But who “invented” that snowplow, yikes! Doesn’t look like any snowplow I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a lot! Leave it to Hollywood to make a “snowplow” out of a garbage truck that looks like it came from some dystopian world, hahaha!
Hello there Becky! Mwahahaha!! I had to look up the snowplow thing again because somehow I didn’t look at it that closely. You’re right, it seems to have been designed by a team who has never seen a snowplow before!! LOL!
Hello there Flixy! Glad you took another look, I’m chuckling out loud just thinking about it!
It is laughable indeed, and not in a good way LOL!!
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