‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ Review: The Foley Charm Remains : Pop Culture Leftovers

‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ Review: The Foley Charm Remains

July 28, 2024 6:24 pm |

Axel F is a prime example of how to make a sequel to a beloved classic all these years later. Eddie Murphy was born to play Axel Foley and he returns flawlessly to the role he left behind thirty years ago. The Foley charm remains, the action is a chaotic blast and it had that 80s nostalgia mixed with its own modern take.

As with all sequels set so far after the previous entry, the inevitable fact of aging is still a bit jarring. While it’s beyond exciting to have Billy Rosewood and John Taggart back in the mix, it’s also easy to see that by now these men should’ve retired and moved on with their lives. They’re involvement feels almost tacked onto the overall experience, but they do deliver some nostalgic jokes – inside baseball jokes for those longtime fans of Beverly Hills Cop.

The story revolves around Axel’s daughter, Jane (Taylour Paige), now a criminal defense lawyer taking on the case of an accused cop killer. Needless to say, the police force don’t take kindly to her involvement trying to free the murderer of one of their own. Very quickly Jane learns that keeping this case may be life or death. Rosewood alerts Axel, Rosewood goes missing, Axel comes to Beverly Hills and causes havoc and the story progresses from there.

The new additions to the series are fluently implemented, with a sly Detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon Levitt) and a crooked Captain Cade (Kevin Bacon) joining the mix for both the hero and villains side of the tale. The extra plot given to Abbott builds him up to be a strong player moving forward, but it’s also a little alarming when his story just comes to an end with little closure. Bacon’s involvement is an obvious one and he’s good at playing in his type – if you’ve seen a film with Bacon in the last decade you can certainly guess where his story arc is headed.

The action, especially the wondrous opening with Axel being Axel in Detroit is a prime example of how this film works so many years later. Once Axel makes it to the hills it’s still a delightful time, especially reconnecting with old friends but there’s a slight lack of that same insane energy Axel’s been giving off since the mid-80s. His estranged relationship with his daughter is a heavy plot point and while Murphy makes the most out of generating something out of a child that genuinely didn’t exist in any of the other films, it also feels they could’ve gone with Rosewood’s daughter as his backstory is less in stone.

The humor is another thing, not every joke lands as hard as the original. There are some modern jabs that do come off a bit off-putting but the fact of the matter is Axel’s lived a life since the last time we’ve seen him. His sense of humor has altered slightly, and he no longer laughs like he once did. Murphy still delivers an unbelievable charm to the character and this makes even the worst joke generate a smile by default.

The score is second to none, it rang in my ears for days, weeks after seeing this film for the first time and it will continue to do so for years to come. The Beverly Hills Cop franchise is timeless and while it’s certainly had its ups and downs (notably 3 not being up to par), this fourth film is a fantastic example of how to keep a franchise moving and bring back an iconic character without destroying anything in the process. The door is open for more and if they’re able to rush it and still make it worthwhile, I’d be down for yet another case with the legendary Axel F.

REVIEW Simultaneously Published on Cinefied.com