It’s been over a generation (40 years) since we first met Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) in “Beverly Hills Cop” and approx. a generation (30 years) since we last saw him in “Beverly Hills Cop 3”. However, these days it seems like movies from the 80s and 90s are popular for sequels or remakes like the “Top Gun” and “Coming to America” sequels that came out over the last couple years and the “Roadhouse” and “The Crow” remakes released this. So, Axel Foley is back again. He’s not as good as he used to be, but he still has his moments. Unfortunately, this is a Netflix release so it’s only playing at a VERY limited number of theaters, and I wasn’t able to get to one to watch it. So, this review is from watching it on Netflix.
Once again Axel goes from his hometown of Detroit to Beverly Hills (also Los Angeles because Beverly Hills is a fairly small city). This time it’s to help his estranged daughter Jane Saunders (Taylour Paige) after her life has been threatened, and his old friend Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) who has mysteriously disappeared. When he arrives in town, he must find the bad guys while avoiding the Beverly Hills police who – once again – want him to stop causing problems in Beverly Hills. This time the Beverly Hills police include chief of police John Taggert (John Ashton – who was a cop in previous movies) and Captain Cade Grant (Kevin Bacon). Although Taggert and Rosewood used to be partners (see “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Beverly Hills Cop 2”) Rosewood is no longer with the police force and Taggert thinks he was on a wild goose chase when he disappeared.
The plot for this movie is about the same as the plot line for the other “Beverly Hills Cop” movies –Axel comes to Beverly Hills where he has to find the bad guys in between getting repeatedly arrested by the Beverly Hills police – but the main draw to all these movies isn’t the plot, it’s the action and the comedy.
There are a lot of pretty good action scenes in the movie but they’re missing the flair of the previous movies. This is the first time Mark Molloy has directed a feature film. If you compare the action scenes from “Beverly Hills Cop 2” (where director Tony Scott was developing what would become his own style of action scenes also seen in “Top Gun” and “True Romance”) or “Beverly Hills Cop 3” (directed by John Landis who has had a lot of experience directing action scenes in other movies like “The Blues Brothers”) with this movie it’s not as good. However, on its own there are some good action scenes including a meter maid mini car and (later) a helicopter going down what seems to be Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. (Note: I’m sure the action scenes would be more impressive if I saw them on a big movie theater screen.)
There are also some funny scenes including an argument about if “Foley” or his daughters last name “Saunders” sounds better and a scene with a Beverly Hills realtor (played by Nasim Pedrad) that seems to be mocking the women on one of those “Real Housewives” reality shows. However, again, if you compare them to the scenes with Serge (Bronson Pinchot) – who also appears in the movie in the scene with the realtor – and other scenes from the previous movies, the scenes in this movie aren’t as funny.
In fact, the biggest issue I have with this movie is comparing it to the previous movies. There are too many “remember that from the previous movie” moments. The returning characters – including Jeffrey Friedman (Paul Reiser), Billy Rosewood, John Taggert, and Serge – outnumber the new characters – Jane Saunders, Captain Cade Grant, and Detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon Levitt). Also, the movie plays the same 80s music that the previous movies played such as “The Heat Is On” by Glenn Fry, “Neutron Dance” by the Pointer Sisters, and “Shakedown” by Bob Seger. There is one or two song remixes or new songs, but the older songs play just like they did 30 or 40 years ago.
This movie even recreates scenes from the previous movies. Axel Foley ends up hanging from the back of the truck at the start of “Beverly Hills Cop” and there’s a scene where Billy Rosewood drives a cement truck in “Beverly Hills Cop 2”. This movie recreates that type of action scene with Axel driving a snowplow chasing people in Detroit at the start of this movie. One of the last scenes in this movie is Axel in the back of the car and Taggert and Rosewood are in the front, just like several shots in the first two movies. Also, there’s a scene in this movie where Axel goes back to the same Beverly Hills hotel that he went to in the first movie. He’s about to make a big fuss but then he just sighs and asks if there is a room available. That was basically how I felt at that point. I wish they cut down the constant reminders to the previous movies. It just makes me remember what was better or funnier in the older movies.
Overall, if you haven’t seen any of the previous movies, I’d say this is a decent movie. Not great, but there are some funny scenes and some good action scenes (although you’ll be wondering about some things if you don’t know the backstory). If you have seen the previous movies, this movie doesn’t compare well.
Overall: 6 OUT OF 10 STARS (if I hadn’t seen the previous movies or if I have seen this movie in a movie theater, I may have given it a 7 out of 10)
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 