‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ review: Eddie Murphy in great form on return

The opening sequence of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is quintessential Foley-ish. The fast-talking, irreverent Detroit policeman is hunting down thieves looting a stadium during an ice-hockey match. As the criminals make their escape on bikes, Foley, being Foley, gives chase in the first vehicle he finds—an earth mover. Needless to say, several cars are ploughed through, and mayhem ensues as Foley manages to stop the bikers but at a great expense to the city.

Forty years after he first appeared in Beverly Hills Cop, Eddie Murphy is back as Axel Foley, this time to give a hand to his estranged daughter Jane Saunders (Taylour Paige), help that she absolutely does not want. Back in Beverly Hills, Jane is defending a young man accused of being a ‘cop killer’. Jane believes that man to be innocent and a victim of a widespread drug business. There are possibly dirty cops in the mix, which makes things difficult for her—not to mention having to deal with the meddlesome Foley.

Out in California, Foley is also looking for his old buddy Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), who has gone missing. The search reunites Foley with Rosewood’s ex-partner in patrol and now police chief John Taggart (John Ashton). He also makes a new alliance with detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). The smooth, suave and expensively dressed Captain Grant (Kevin Bacon) brings in an element of mystery—though not for long.

A missing former cop, a shady police officer, a drug’s cartel and trafficking network, an estranged father and daughter relationship and a whole lot of quick-talking Eddie Murphy: that’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. Besides Reinhold and Ashton, returning franchise cast members include Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot.

There is no real detective work here, of course, because Foley can just talk his way through most things, like walking into a snooty private members club, pretending to buy a 10-bedroom house, offering a movie role to a towing attendant. There are the usual wild chases, including flying a chopper low through the streets of the city. 

The Beverly Hills Cop movies came out in 1984, '87 and ‘94. They’re based on characters created by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie. Each film had a different director, and this time Mark Molloy takes the helm. 

The story is cliched and Bacon and Gordon-Levitt are wasted in their supporting roles. Molloy starts strong but loses a grip of shaky material midway. He has, smartly, retained the best of the music, which make this a nostalgic delight for those familiar with the original movies. Harold Faltermeyer’s instrumental title tune ‘Axel F’, ‘Neutron Dance’ by the Pointer Sisters, ‘Shakedown’ by Bob Seger and ‘The Heat Is On’ by Glenn Frey are some of the old tunes, alongside new songs such as ‘Here We Go’ by Lil Nas X.

Molloy even manages to repeat some of the famous shots from the first Beverly Hills Cop, of Reinhold and Ashton and Murphy riding together in a cop car.

Murphy is in great form throughout. Slower in his movements perhaps at 63, but still wonderfully glib. The franchise remains a showcase for his comic timing, and the chaotic policing practices of Axel Foley.

‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ is on Netflix.