Review of “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F”: Eddie Murphy is back in action, and it’s great

Beverly Hills Cop 4 is a terrible idea on paper. Sure, the 1984 action comedy and its sequel Beverly Hills Cop 2: The Wonderful World of Madness were big hits and proved Saturday Night LiveEddie Murphy had made the leap to leading actor. But in 1994 Beverly Hills Cop III was a flop with critics and audiences, putting the franchise out of commission for 30 years. Moreover, the fun franchise’s conceit may now be problematic: a cocky cop solves crimes while cracking rude jokes and breaking all the rules. With countless headlines about police brutality and callousness, how do you bring Axel Foley back for a modern audience? Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F I show.

I myself was deeply skeptical about the possibility of Beverly Hills Cop 4 anything but groan-inducing. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I tell you that I was wrong, and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is excellent.

Eddie Murphy is as good as ever as Axel Foley.

Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon / Netflix

Axel still knows how to outsmart crooks and land a punchline. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F proves this efficiently with a rousing opening sequence set in a hockey arena. Axel sits with a white colleague and chats about hockey with the irreverent jokes that match his typical rapid-fire patter. The difference here is that this Axel just lashes out and mocks the fragility of white people rather than using hackneyed stereotypes. Rather than feeling like a compromise made out of fear of so-called cancel culture, these jokes support the undertone of his journey. Axel has always stood up against power structures, be it rich white men who felt above the law or police commissioners who felt public relations was more important than public safety, so it makes sense that as he gets older, his humor tends to reinforce that previously established ideology.

Screenwriters Will Beall, Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten set up the pins with this sharp confidence, and Murphy knocks them down with the raw power of his trademark smile and superb comedic timing. Five minutes after Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, I was already grinning from ear to ear and there hadn’t even been any action yet. Unbelievable, but the scriptwriters have a clever strategy for this too.

Many action movies featuring aging stars use awkward editing to avoid showing how their bodies or mobility have changed. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is too smart to be slowed down. The 63-year-old Murphy isn’t going to run around like he did three decades ago, so the writers came up with a clever and hilarious solution: He takes over increasingly absurd vehicles. Axel jumps from snow plows to traffic warden’s cars and helicopters, and each scene isn’t an evasive maneuver but an opportunity for visual gags – like getting pepper-sprayed by a traffic warden. Plus, each of these decisions confirms that Axel is still quick-thinking. Thankfully, Murphy isn’t the only one beaming upon their return.

Axel F brings us Paul Reiser, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold and Bronson Pinchot back together.

Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix

The premise of this fourth installment follows a familiar framework: an unsolved crime gets one of Axel’s relatives into trouble and draws him to Beverly Hills to investigate on his own. This cozy starting point allows Reiser, Ashton and Reinhold to resume their roles as Axel’s embattled cop friends. The former two have worked their way up the hierarchy and are now the desk jockeys against whom Axel rails. Meanwhile, Billy (Reinhold) is a private detective who follows a lead that leads to his disappearance.

The nostalgic excitement of seeing this band back together is undeniable. Ashton is once again gruff but lovable, Reinhold is sweet with a hint of chaos, and Reiser radiates a downright teeth-grinding affection even as Axel gives him hell. But the return that had me literally squealing with excitement is Bronson Pinchot as Serge. The unexpected breakthrough has become more than a cheap gag about a certain type of flamboyant LA men.

Director Mark Molloy has worked in great montages that deftly depict the luxurious madness of Los Angeles, including a pearl-wearing dog being fed sushi at an open-air restaurant. But Serge is a celebration of all of these absurdities wrapped up in a loud, popular package with plenty of verve. Pinchot’s inexplicable accent and crackling comedic chemistry with Murphy make for one of the film’s funniest scenes, aided by Nasim Pedrad as an overly-disclosing real estate agent. Here, the energy in a garish mansion has a spontaneity that turns the silly scene into a tennis match, with the jokes coming so hard and fast that you’ll be left breathless with laughter. But Pedrad isn’t the only newcomer to leave her mark Axel F.

Taylour Paige and Joseph Gordon-Levitt Boden Axel F‘s crucial dramatic arc.

Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon / Netflix

Amazingly, this fourth film stands out with a plot that sounds painfully cliched: Axel comes to the aid of his adult child, who is facing deadly criminal forces in his quest for justice. But far from a sloppy attempt to pass the franchise on to a younger generation, the screenwriters introduce Jane (Taylour Paige), Axel’s daughter, who works as a criminal defense attorney and does pro bono work for a suspected “cop killer.” The tension between this cop father and his daughter, who works as a public defender, is often very high—a weakness that Axel’s antagonist, a wily and snarling LA cop (Kevin Bacon), exploits like a fiddle. Yet the most moving thing about it is not their ideological differences but the frustrations between father and daughter, which are almost painfully frequent.

Axel may be the best at finding clues, but he has no idea how to repair the relationship with his estranged daughter. Rather than playing her role as a pale imitation of Murphy’s iconic character, Paige presents her own headstrong heroine—one whose weak point is her father. The arguments over who is to blame for the distance between them are authentic, acknowledging not only the ruthless way family members can hurt each other, but also the difference in the way millennials and their baby boomer parents communicate about feelings. While Axel is quick with a joke, Jane is unflinchingly direct, as is her ex-boyfriend, a young detective (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who takes Axel to task in a firm but empathetic tone.

Where the villain of this film mocks that the “current landscape” is a place where you can’t say anything more, these characters all prove that it’s not what you say, but how you say it that matters. And it’s honestly exciting to see a comedy nail that distinction and still be incredibly funny. Even better, these newcomers to the area aren’t treated as whining mouths when it comes to the film’s action or comedy. While they often play the serious guy to Axel, Paige and Gordon-Levitt shine alongside him, whether they’re glowering at an enemy or giving an embarrassed reaction that’s hilarious.

All of this falls into place piece by piece to form a cleverly constructed sequel that manages to explore the best parts of the original trilogy while also incorporating new elements that give it new life and relevance. Even the soundtrack does this, mixing classic rock tunes like “The Heat Is On” and “Shakedown” with newer songs like “Players” by Coi Leray and Lil Nas X’s film theme “Here We Go!”. The combination of all of this makes for a film that is classically entertaining, but fresh and exciting.

At the end, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is not only a great sequel or a fantastic action comedy, but it may also be the most entertaining film of the year. If you can see it in the cinema, do so. If you’re watching it at home – like most of us – turn up the volume so the theme song swallows you up and welcomes you into the world of Axel Foley and his friends.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Premieres on Netflix on July 3 and in select theaters.