Tag: Beverly Hills Cop III

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Review

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is frequently an amusing ride of overt nostalgia mining. It works better than the other two sequels to the 1984 original, especially 1994’s embarrassing III set at an amusement park. Is it good? That might hinge on your generosity level any given moment or reverence for what happened four decades ago. Eddie Murphy is certainly trying harder than he did 30 years ago (and in several mediocre titles between now and then). This is also a notch above Coming 2 America, his other recent long gestating legacy follow-up. Having this premiere on Netflix kinda makes sense. You can check out from time to time and it might not disrupt your overall experience. Does it try too hard to capture a 40-year-old vibe? I guess. Was I still watching? Yes and with more attentiveness than when Axel Foley donned an elephant costume in BHC III (never forget).

The role of renegade Detroit cop Axel Foley is the one that turned Murphy from a movie star to iconic superstar. Part one additionally blended action and comedy in ways that many copied and still do. Beverly Hills Cop II, despite some guilty pleasure high gloss moments courtesy of Tony Scott, couldn’t think of much more to do with the concept. III, despite reuniting its star and Trading Places and Coming to America director John Landis… well we’ve covered that already. Seeing him slide on his Detroit Lions jacket again could’ve been yet another big-budget letdown. Yet just as that team has recently shown signs of life, this series does in part IV.

Foley returns to the West Coast for family business after a cool Motor City prologue set at a Red Wings game (this allows for Paul Reiser to reprise his role as our protagonist’s former partner). His estranged daughter Jane (Taylour Paige) is an attorney representing an innocent man for killing a cop. The dirty police captain (Kevin Bacon) responsible for the murder may need to off the Foley offspring to cover his tracks. So Axel’s ole pal Billy (Judge Reinhold) sends up the 90210 signal before he gets kidnapped himself. His old partner Taggart (John Ashton) is now the Chief. Side note – he was nowhere to be found in III because he probably read the screenplay.

Some of the script allows time for Axel to attempt rekindling a strained relationship with Jane. He also acquaints himself with Detective Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), his main partner in property destruction and Jane’s ex-flame. Both Gordon-Levitt and Paige are serviceable additions to the proceedings.

I can’t say the same for everyone else. Bronson Pinchot is back as the flamboyant Serge. An art gallery employee in Beverly Hills Cop, he stole two hilarious minutes from Murphy 40 years back. By III (I’m sorry to keep returning to that disaster), he was inexplicably a weapons dealer whose cameo was as unfunny as everything else in the runtime. Now he’s a bleach blonde real estate agent whose appearance feels tacked on. Same goes for Luis Guzman’s eccentric gang leader. Their parts could’ve been eliminated and we would’ve been better off without their 80s vibes.

Perhaps the shameless callbacks to the best franchise moments will leave you cold. I must admit the Pointer Sisters and Harold Faltermeyer and Bob Seger and Glenn Frey needle drops provided joy. Additionally the scaled down nature of the action sequences felt retro positive. Director Mark Molloy often succeeds in making this feel like it could’ve been produced in the era it celebrates. Never mind that everyone looks older and sorer with the notable exception of the seemingly ageless Murphy. This is not an action comedy for the ages. Despite Kevin Bacon as the chief baddie, all four Cop‘s share forgettable villains.

The series that made “Shakedown” an Oscar nominated track doesn’t attempt anything close to a shakeup. Thankfully its megawatt star is in his groove enough that it warrants going back to Cali.

*** (out of four)

Oscar Predictions – Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is out on Netflix today with Eddie Murphy reprising his iconic role as the wisecracking policeman. It arrives 40 years after the original and 30 years behind the unfortunate Beverly Hills Cop III (even its lead has trashed that one). Judge Reinhold, Josh Ashton, Paul Reiser, and Bronson Pinchot return to the franchise with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Paige, and Kevin Bacon joining the fourth entry. Mary Malloy directs.

This might seem like a pointless Oscar Predictions posts until you realize there’s awards history with the first two Cop‘s. Part 1 was up for Best Original Screenplay (losing to Places in the Heart). At the Golden Globes, the original competed for Best Musical/Comedy (falling short to Romancing the Stone) and Murphy up for Actor in that category with Dudley Moore (Micki & Maude) emerging victorious. Three years later, Bob Seger’s track “Shakedown” from the first sequel was up for Original Song at the Oscars and Globes. “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing defeated it at both shows. Unsurprisingly, part III failed to generate any nods except the Razzies where John Landis was up for Worst Director (“losing” to Steven Seagal for On Deadly Ground). Wyatt Earp prevented it from taking Worst Remake or Sequel.

Now that we’ve dispensed with that fun trip down memory lane, Axel F is getting mixed reviews with 67% on RT. That’s behind part 1 (83%) but ahead of II (46%) and III (11%). I wouldn’t count on Lil Nas X’s musical contribution “Here We Go!” competing like Seger’s song did. Same goes for any other category. On the bright side, it probably won’t factor into the Razzie conversation either. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

You People Review

You People begins with podcaster Ezra (Jonah Hill) and his cohost Mo (Sam Jay) having a chat about the former’s relationship status. They compare it to the various albums of Drake as far as his moods (looking for love Drake vs. party boy Drake). It sounds like the idea of a conversation you’d have in a movie screenplay before the scribes try for authenticity. Hill and cowriter/director Kenya Barris (creator of sitcom black-ish) rarely get to the authenticity part as this race and family relations concoction feels overly workshopped. There are glimpses in the third act, but what a waste of talent for so much of it.

Ezra’s heart is taken by Amira (Lauren London) after mistaking her for his Uber driver. The couple’s meet cute quickly elevates to an engagement and the meet the parents business complicates the bliss. His are Julia-Louis Dreyfus’s doting Jewish mom Shelley and hubby Arnold (David Duchovny), whose lines are 90% describing 90s rapper Xzibit. Hers are devout Muslim Akbar (Eddie Murphy) and wife Fatima (Nia Long). Ezra’s streaming show is about cultural interactions. Those of the in-laws could fill a season’s worth of content.

The problem is it’s not profound and feels rather tame. A lunch table talk about the ebony and ivory aspects of Forrest Gump is shrimpy in its impact. Same goes for when Ezra is stuck in the car with his future father-in-law as a Jay-Z/Kanye track using a forbidden word comes up. These are sitcom level situations with the humor stuck in bland-ish gear.

A cast filled with familiar faces do add some welcome laughs. Small contributions from Mike Epps as Akbar’s degenerate brother and Molly Gordon as Ezra’s exasperated sister help. Barris and Hill manage to inject a little emotion in the waning moments that could satisfy ardent rom com devotees.

For the most part, You People is listless. The biggest surprise is the term applies to Murphy’s performance. The legend is usually the spark plug even in his mediocre pics. This recalls his lethargic work in Beverly Hills Cop III more than anything else. When that’s the comparison I’m making with his filmography, the heat is off when it comes to his normal firepower.

** (out of four)