When Eddie Murphy bounced back after a long dry season of nothing memorable with Dolemite is My Name, my hopes were set on Murphy returning to the risk-taking R-rated roots of his early work (48 Hours, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, and Coming to America). Instead, Murphy went back to the safety net sequel well and followed up Dolemite (his best work in ages) with the fairly limp Coming to America 2. Hearing that Murphy’s next project was to be a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie (30 years after the miserable third film) didn’t raise my spirits any. It seemed like Murphy was returning to the safe choice of recycling a beloved character, instead of stretching himself as he did in Dolemite.
But here’s the thing I didn’t expect when I said aloud to my Netflix “well fine,” and pressed play when Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F debuted on Wednesday: it’s a lot of damn fun. Murphy, at 63 looks fit and is fully engaged throughout the movie. Murphy went through a long phase of sleepwalking through a number of family films (Pluto Nash, two Dr. Doolittles, and god help us all, Daddy Day Care) that in no way played to his raw, hilariously vulgar strengths, as well as his dynamic charisma. Sure the first Nutty Professor movie is a hoot, and Bowfinger, and Dreamgirls reminded moviegoers of just how great he could still be when Murphy pushed himself. That’s what made Dolemite so thrilling. Here was Murphy working at the absolute top of his game when many of us had given up on the possibility of ever seeing his particular genius on screen and in full bloom ever again.
While I am in no way suggesting that Axel F is on the Dolemite level (or even on the level of the first Beverly Hills Cop film), I do know that the film and his performance are a whole lot better than I would have expected. In fact, it’s easily the second best of the foursome, taking the silver over Tony Scott’s over-directed sequel to the original, and easily clearing the subterranean low bar of the third installment in the Beverly Hills Cop series of films.
While I have no evidence that Axel F took any notes from Top Gun: Maverick, the parallels are undeniable: Create an energized sequel with an iconic lead and lean into the history and the nostalgia of the first film with shameless panache.
Just like Maverick dropped the needle on Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” in the opening moments, Axel F does the same with Glen Frey’s “The Heat is On.” The film also resurrects Bob Seger’s “Shakedown,” The Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance” (still a banger), and of course the memorable theme by Harold Faltermeyer.
We also see early on the return of Paul Reiser as Foley’s promoted police chief, as well as Bronson Pinchot, John Ashton, and Judge Reinhold (each of the latter three being pulled out of cinematic witness protection) when the scenery changes to Beverly Hills. Once Axel arrives in 90210, we get an homage to Foley’s first experience as a Detroit cop visiting La La Land with Murphy taking in the strange culture of Los Angeles (my favorite sight gag is of a steely-eyed gorgeous platinum blonde in an uber expensive convertible that has a vanity plate that says “PRE NUP”).
All this familiarity would feel desperate were it not for the fact that Murphy seems to really be enjoying slipping back into Axel’s Detroit Lions jacket, and first-time feature director Matt Malloy directs the film with genuine verve and pace. The film clocks in at just under two hours, but never feels bloated for a single second.
Not to say that the briskly told story is all that important, but Murphy and Taylour Paige as Axel’s estranged daughter strike some warm grace notes in-between their amusing (and even a bit tough bickering). Paige plays a defense attorney who is put at risk by defending a first-time drug mule on his inaugural run. She soon learns that a number of corrupt police officers (led by a scenery chewing Kevin Bacon) are part of a drug ring, putting her life in danger, and hence giving the film its impetus for Foley to return to Beverly Hills and create an opportunity for familial reconciliation, along with some wisecracking derring do.
Adding an additional touch of class to the film’s “let’s get the gang back together” while adding some father / daughter strife for a bit of modest complexity, is the presence of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays a by-the-book cop who has to throw said book on the bonfire when working with Murphy’s Axel Foley. You could even say that a sizable portion of the film turns into a “buddy cop” movie between the unlikely pair.
The scene where Levitt and Paige enter the same room as Murphy and the awkwardness of their verbal tone and body language reveals that the two of them were once an item, Murphy hilariously states, “You two have had intercourse.” Murphy nails the line in such a way that reminds you of why you liked him (and this character)so much in the first place.
And look, Axel F is not going to be an awards contender. It’s not going to end up on anyone’s top ten list at the end of the year, but it does accomplish something bordering on the miraculous: much like Stallone’s* Rocky Balboa extinguished the bitter taste of Rocky V from our mouths, so does Axel F allow us to forget that Beverly Hills Cop 3 ever happened. A fact that makes me think that perhaps an award should be invented for the accomplishment. Because Axel F reminds us that one of the many reasons we go to the movies (or stay in during the streaming era) is just to have a good time. And Axel F is a very good time indeed.
*Fun note of trivia, when the original version of Beverly Hills Cop was being developed, it was intended to be an action film starring Stallone. There’s a great inside joke/sight gag made out of Judge Rheinhold’s collection of Rambo memorabilia. Something tells me that was no accident.
