Film Review – BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F (2024): Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley is Back Just For Kicks in a Routine Action Sequel

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Review

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) Film Review, a movie directed by Mark Molloy, written by Danilo Bach, Daniel Petrie Jr. and Will Beall and starring Eddie Murphy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Paige, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, Bronson Pinchot, Kevin Bacon, Tony Jones, Ed Cali, Brandon Butler, Kyle S. More, Kenneth Nance Jr., Chuck McCollum, D.A. Obahor, Jon Lee Richardson and Bee-Be Smith.

Show of hands. Who wanted to see a movie where America’s funniest cop, Axel Foley, returns to the screen after a three decade absence just to bicker and argue with his grown daughter? I don’t see too many hands up. Going into director Mark Molloy’s new Netflix action sequel, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, expectations were high. Although the opening scenes are overly derivative and most of the movie’s story line feels like it could have been that of just about any other drug smuggling action picture, the scenes between Foley (Eddie Murphy) and his daughter, Jane (Taylour Paige) pretty much keep the movie afloat throughout its extended running time. Paige and Murphy have an entertaining rapport on-screen that helps the picture save face as it falls into the habit of simply bringing on old characters who don’t have much to say (even after a 30-year absence) and expecting audiences to be satisfied.

Paul Reiser’s Deputy Chief Jeffrey Friedman yells at Foley on his home turf as Foley manipulates a colleague, Detective Mike Woody (Kyle S. More), to go to a hockey game to capture a person of interest in a case. A chase ensues that leads Foley to get into more hot water. Eventually, Foley leaves his stomping grounds in Detroit to return to Beverly Hills. Judge Reinhold’s Billy Rosewood ends up missing in action while Chief John Taggart (John Ashton) is both thrilled and frustrated to see Foley back in town.

A scene where a traffic cop sprays mace in Foley’s face is an example of the movie’s many problems. Foley starts to drive to get away from some goons but he can’t see because he was sprayed with mace! So, he’s putting other people’s lives at risk to save his own butt, more or less. This sequence was particularly annoying and definitely was a demerit against the film as a whole.

Two new additions to the cast are obvious attempts to bring more modern-day star power into the mix. Joseph Gordon-Levitt fares best as Detective Bobby Abbott who, it turns out, is dating Jane, Foley’s daughter. Abbott is a welcome addition to the franchise and the character even has a run-in with the very well-spoken, Serge (Bronson Pinchot, so funny in the earlier films) who pronounces Abbott’s name with hilarious results. Then, we have Captain Cade Grant (Kevin Bacon) who is definitely more than meets the eye. Bacon falters here in a one-note performance. His character eventually tries to take down a chopper Abbott is trying to commandeer with Foley at his side. Bacon could have phoned this performance in, judging from the actor’s mediocre work in the picture.

In the film, Jane is defending a client who she believes is not guilty and things get further complicated when Foley is set to take the fall for some things that go down with the bad guys in the picture. The highlight of the film is when Luis Guzman comes on-screen to sort of point Foley towards those who are causing trouble. Guzman reminds us why he has always been one of our quirkiest character actors and, also, one of the best.

Reinhold’s character, Billy, goes MIA for most of the movie so there’s not much to judge his performance on. It was almost like he did this part as a favor. John Ashton is better as his Chief Taggart tells characters that he works at his age just to keep his distance from his wife. This movie ultimately belongs to Paige and Murphy though Paige easily steals the rug out from under Murphy whose work is more of the same that we’ve seen in the earlier movies. Paige lights up the screen even as Jane doesn’t accept Foley’s calls to bail him out of jail at first. The relationship between Foley and Jane is well-developed and Gordon-Levitt is a good match for Jane as well.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F employs remixes of the old music from the previous films to a certain level of success. Murphy is reliable as Foley though he seems to be improvising his lines at least half the time his character is on-screen. Although it has its problems, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a movie I wouldn’t have missed for the world. Taylour Paige proved she could do no wrong with her work in Zola and she does manage to create a bond with her dad, Foley, that could grow on the viewer as the film progresses. Who would have thought that this film would throw Ashton and Reinhold’s characters into the background to focus on a father-daughter relationship? In any event, this picture is a decent movie if you can deal with the fact that it’s not as good as the 1984 original film which is hard to beat as one of the very best action-comedies of the 1980’s.

Rating: 6.5/10

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