Review of 'Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F'
Thirty years after the events of the previous films, Axel Foley is still getting into trouble as a wise-cracking and relentlessly determined Detroit police officer. Axel receives a concerning phone call from a friend from his Beverly Hills' days Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), former policeman and now private detective. Axel learns that the life of his estranged daughter Jane Saunders (Taylour Paige), an LA attorney currently defending Sam Enriquez (Damien Diaz), a young man who has been accused of murdering an undercover police officer, is in danger. A short time later Billy is kidnapped by a drugs cartel. Returning once again to Beverley Hills, Axel is arrested when he interrupts a team of DEA agents searching Billy's office. At the police station Axel is reunited with another friend from the past John Taggart (John Ashton), now chief of police, who introduces Axel to Captain Cade Grant (Kevin Bacon) of the DEA, who Axel immediately distrusts due to his expensive taste in clothes. Jane bails Axel but flatly refuses to engage with her father feeling rejection at having been sent years ago to LA when the Detroit mafia threatened her life. With the help of his old friends, including a still flamboyant Serge (Bronson Pinchot), it is up to Axel to rescue Billy and figure out what is going on…
This is certainly one for the fans of the original films with Eddie Murphy returning as the loveable rogue Axel Foley. The cast, of course, look a bit older in their roles but still manage to entertain though perhaps with a bit less of the energy they once again with the exception of Murphy himself who seems to never let up and does not seem to have slowed down much at al. It is only Bronson Pinchot who is disappointingly not quite as camp as in the original films.
We are treated once again to the incredibly fast witted Axel talking his way out of, and into, trouble and the trademark incredibly elaborate, silly and destructive action sequences resulting in high blood pressure for the chief of police. Despite his age Foley does not seem to have slowed down which could have been a bit hard to take but in this Murphy manages to convince with his boundless energy and sharp quips. This is not a film to expect anything different than what we have seen in this regard but what is new is Foley's relationship with his daughter, the focus of the film both emotionally and in terms of the plot. It is here we see more of the personal side of Foley which is a refreshing change.
One of the features of the original films was the “fish out of water” rough-and-ready Detroit cop in the high-gloss world of Beverley Hills which is still present here though with an obvious 21st century mentality of a mixed race police force and general acceptance of people no matter what their background. There is still the obvious wealth gap which is played here for laughs, but none of the more troubling racial undertones from the original films that gave them a bit more bite than this new outing has today. Indeed, in this new outing we see Axel attempting to use his race to his advantage and failing dismally without any hint of prejudice…
Great to hear songs from the original soundtrack present again here with a few new pieces as well though often it is very much in the background instead of a loud, pumping, piece of the film's sound. I was a huge fan of the music “The Heat is On”, “Shakedown”, “Neutron Dance”, “Maneater”, and “Axel F” itself, they are all here and accounted for, accompanying the incredible action sequences.
A hugely fun return to Beverley Hills by Detroit's famous (infamous?) cop, Axel Foley.
Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”
Review Date: 2024-07-07
Directed by: Mark Molloy
Studio: Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films
Year: 2024
Length: 118 minutes
Genre: Action/Adventure
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3083016/