Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Review: Eddie Murphy's Wisecracking Return

Axel Foley is back and better than ever. Forty years ago, Eddie Murphy starred in the original Beverly Hills Cop, which blew audiences away and became one of the comedian’s most famous films. This action-comedy hit was followed by two sequels, one of which was so critically maligned that this movie briefly makes fun of it. But thirty years have passed since Beverly Hills Cop III. After CBS put a banana in the tailpipe of a TV pilot that failed to reboot this series in 2013, Netflix took the reins from Paramount, gave Murphy his old Detroit Lions letterman jacket, and said yes to Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

This movie is the entry that fans of the series have deserved for decades. Franchise veteran Jerry Bruckheimer, known for his exceptional work, returns to produce this long-awaited sequel. This film marks the 80-year-old producer’s third movie in the last five weeks after Young Woman and the Sea and Bad Boys: Ride or Die. His work here is terrific. He worked with Netflix to secure a whopping $150 million budget to give the fans something they’ve been hoping for for years, ensuring the highest-quality production.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is the best entry in the series. It retains the DNA of a classic Eddie Murphy comedy while injecting millions of dollars that the other films did not have. It hits you with nostalgia right from minute one, with Glenn Frey’s “The Heat Is On” blasting through the opening credits, just like moviegoers saw back in 1984. The soundtrack uses needle drops to help you remember those first three movies superbly. However, the key ingredient to a good Beverly Hills Cop movie is seeing Murphy do his schtick as Axel Foley. And boy, that man can run his mouth like a motor, just like he did in the ’80s. It’s good to have him back.

Fueled by nostalgia, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F spends the right amount of time playing the hits. It shows off the chaos of a Foley car chase and then kicks off the main story. The plot follows a defense attorney named Jane Saunders (Taylour Paige) looking into a case. This is where the film finds its most significant fault—the story is not very interesting. The crime she is investigating happened offscreen, meaning there isn’t enough here for the audience to connect to these events emotionally.

In the first movie, Axel is finding the person who killed his best friend. In the second, he’s looking for the people who shot Captain Bogomil. In the third, he’s searching for the person who killed Inspector Todd. The death that kickstarts the events of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is nowhere near as compelling. It feels as if the crime happened in a deleted scene that was replaced with a more lighthearted opening action sequence. This event serves as an excuse to put Axel face-to-face with his daughter. We find out soon enough that Jane is Axel’s daughter, estranged from him after years of a rough childhood where Axel was not the father he should have been.

This storyline is where the heart and soul of the movie come to life. Like many long-delayed sequels to classics of decades past, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F provides a more mature look at Axel Foley and his shortcomings. His wife is not in the picture, and there are many conversations that Axel and Jane need to have that they haven’t had yet. The movie also puts the right amount of focus on Detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who must not only team up with Axel but is also Jane’s ex-boyfriend.

The action is a shining element of this film. The previous franchise directors (Martin Brest, Tony Scott, and John Landis) did a serviceable job with the action sequences, but they all could have been better. Mark Molloy directs this movie in his feature film debut. Few in history have landed a $150 million franchise film as their first movie, but he does solid work. There’s a standout action set piece with a helicopter, and it feels much more in-camera than the digitized CGI environments of recent Hollywood cinema. There are practical helicopter and truck stunts, which all feel more thrilling than the first three movies.

The film’s biggest weakness is the string that connects everything. The Beverly Hills Cop movies have never boasted phenomenal screenplays. This script, written by Will Beall (Aquaman), Tom Gormican, and Kevin Etten (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent), does its best to provide the characters with an emotional gravitas. However, the crime story at the center could be clearer and more compelling. When we have a story like this, an action-comedy movie must tie everything together with solid action sequences or hilarious comedy set pieces. Unfortunately, the quality of both is too inconsistent for this movie to have the impact it could.

It can also suffer from its predictability. A character shows up early, and right from their opening scene, it’s extremely easy to predict they will be the surprise villain. The movie also commits a third-act action movie trope where if you’ve seen any action movie in your life, you’ve seen this idea done before. You may roll your eyes a few times, but there’s a lot of charm here.

Murphy’s career has had its ups and downs. In 2019, he looked like he was on the verge of a resurgence with his fantastic work in Dolemite Is My Name. Since then, he’s made another long-delayed sequel with Coming 2 America and shown up in the underwhelmingly reviewed You People and Candy Cane Lane. This is his best movie since Dolemite, and he brings all that classic charm and signature smile into this character. Gordon-Levitt is always an enjoyable presence in everything he’s in. He’s likable as ever, and he gets some fun action-hero moments that may remind one of his heyday in Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, and Looper.

Paige gives an excellent performance as Jane. She doesn’t get to flex any comedic chops like you’d expect Axel Foley’s daughter to, but she gets one scene where she matches Murphy’s wit. Another shining element is the score from Lorne Balfe, who has had a history of putting his spin on classic action movie franchises like Mission: Impossible and Bad Boys. He uses that classic iconic Harold Faltermeyer score in all the right places. Some may be disappointed about how long it takes to get a few of the reunions we’ve been waiting for, but it feels so lovely to have Judge Reinhold and John Ashton back in this series, along with a few other familiar faces.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a decent sequel that knows how to pull the right heartstrings. It will strike a chord with longtime fans of those original movies, particularly with its 80s score and soundtrack. The film references the first trilogy while telling a new story and putting the right amount of emphasis on the characters and their depth. This movie is a strong debut from Molloy, who brings a grounded authenticity to all the action sequences and lets Murphy let loose.