A few years ago, if a movie such as this was dropping on the weekend of the Fourth of July, it would make an impressive earnings standing at the top in the box office charts. But quite clearly, the times have changed with the long awaited fourth film of the Eddie Murphy series dropping on Netflix as opposed to a multiplex. Its hard to believe that such a quality movie could be produced and have even better performances from Axel F which could be the greatest in the series since Beverly hills cop made Eddie murphy a global sensation. Why a legacy sequel makes cheap nostalgia machines instead of moving forward with projects like Top gun and creed well, that’s a worth thinking question.
Even though “Axel F” is far from being at the same level as those films, its performance is much better than most would have imagined. It showcases Murphy’s incredible charm and comedic appeal with skilled actors like Taylor Paige, Joseph Gordon Levitt, and Kevin Bacon that completely support the main character. The idea of reintroducing characters from the original trilogy is very appealing, however they do leave a sense of disappointment.
Axel F : The film oriented in Detroit begins with Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy’s character) who again being undercover tries to stop a crime at a Red Wings game which results in a comical chase around Detroit in a snowplow as Axel is chasing a corrupt member of the league this first snowplow chase scene around Detroit is just one out of many great chase scenes in the movie, something of which is a lost art these days with over CGI commercial superhits. It is also shown earlier that Axel’s DPD partner now has the same position, except they worked for the old bald guard Jeffrey Friedman (Paul Reiser) who has entered retirement age and has written his own retirement papers. This leads into quite a few discussions about aging cops and the quality of life retired law enforcement gets.
As for Axel himself, officially he is way too old for this shit anymore, but soon enough for the daughter he bears Jane (Paige from Zola) she gets harassed by a case of dirty cops which draws her father back to Beverly Hills. Obviously, this brings back memories of the good old good guys with the bad guys such as Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton) as well. While the former cop left the force because he had a rather gory relationship with Chief Taggart, he’s a Private Deck now.
It is the first time we are witnessing Detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon Levitt) and Captain Cade Grant (Kevin Bacon) venture into this world. It’s easy to see that Abbott used to date Jane and any of us would consider him an ally. As for Grant, he could easily be portrayed as the clear villain who is a cartoon character’s archetype the one with the mustache that is always twirled.
Right from the opening track, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F avails itself to the audience in an enticing yet playful manner that legacy sequels are normally robbed of, a characteristic that was arguably absent in the form of the second and third more laborious instalments in this particular series. Murphy is enjoyable when he runs around the film all over the place, appearing to have a giddy smile that is so comforting to lovers of his work. Even the score here seems playful as Lorne Balfe has ideas from the original Harold Falter Meyer hit but also makes use of tracks from the terrible 1984 one.
Is that a cheap trick? Something like that, although it’s more a question of proportions. When Bronson Pinchot’s Serge appears on screen in a rather unfunny episode, one cannot stand to think of what the potential version of this movie that could have been made. But as it is, all the flashbacks and camera pans to other films only make you think of the lost potential. That may sound as being gratuitous compliments, but in case of this reboot there are several variants even before the show was almost directed by Brett Ratner that take us on an irritating tour of “cancel culture”, generation divide and all the other things that normally ruin the performances of older comedy actors with today’s money.
Once again, it is helpful to have supporting performers who are willing to go along with the play. Murphy often revives when he gets entertaining adversaries and here Wesley Snipes and Da’Vante Joy Randolph provide one in ‘Dolomite is My Name’. Even though Paige, JGL, and Bacon are not that great, they all got the assignment here and did not phone it in like many supporting actors of Netflix original films. Bacon revels in his pretentious villainy and JGL provides sanity in a few difficult points when the film desperately needs one. Paige is good, however, the script does seem to run out of options to develop her character and she repeatedly gets into the same conflicts with her estranged father. In regard to the returning heroes, Reinhold vanishes for most of the screen time but Ashton manages to perform when it is required of him.
With regard to the production, cinematographer Eduard Grau (“Passing”) has worked with commercial vet Molloy to give the film just enough Californian gloss, aiming to retain the look of the original, adding just enough to the look that fans of Scott from the first sequel will not be disappointed as well. Dan Leben Tal knows how to cut together these hot weather legacy action/comedy sequels; after “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” it was nice to cut another summer sequel to the right action rhythm. It might not be much for the majority of Netflix viewers but the truth is that it’s a fact that many streaming original movies, especially the ones that can be termed as cash grabs (we’re looking at you, “Red Notice”), are poorly produced, and that’s never the case here.
Also, what has to be taken into account is the fact that Fourth of July films have usually been associated with entertainment, a means of venting our worries for a while and seeking to escape reality inside the controlled environment of a theatre. As the world is becoming increasingly divided, confused and stressful with each passing day in Summer 2024, it is almost soothing to be able to watch a film that simply does what it says on the tin, as the film’s ever efficient cop simply gets the job done.
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