Beverly Hills Cop Axel F

I imagine most viewers coming in to this summer's BEVERLY HILLS COP AXEL F have low expectations.  It has been thirty years since the odd, disastrous COP III.  For me, COP II isn't exactly warmly remembered either.  But the original film was a perfect showcase for Eddie Murphy, who had by then established himself as a true superstar.  Who could carry a movie even with a substandard script.  I recently rewatched director Martin Brest's 1984 smash and it looked and played better than ever.  This was probably a mistake on my part, as this fourth entry in the franchise suffers by comparison.  Not surprising.  How could it not?

But AXEL F still has enough to keep old fans watching.  While I didn't find it to be the complete nostalgia trip many have described, a sizable amount of the film's nearly two hours reunites some beloved characters and while many of them expectedly look weathered from all the intervening years, their spark remains.  

Axel is still on the Detroit PD, still getting in hot water with the higher ups for his reckless methods.  He will commandeer a snowplow in pursuit of a gang of thieves who just ripped off some stuff from the Red Wings hockey team.  A path of destruction ensues, remember the opening of COP 1? Axel will be gently dressed down by his old colleague (now Deputy Chief) Jeffrey Friedman (Paul Reiser), who is considering retirement.  Especially in the wake of Axel's latest escapade.

The next day, Axel will get a desperate call from his old bud Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), a former Beverly Hills cop who is now a P.I. and wears Gun N' Roses Ts on the job.  He warns his friend that his long estranged daughter Jane (Taylour Paige), a defense attorney, is in danger after she begins representing a kid framed for the murder of an undercover, possibly crooked policeman.  Foley will soon find himself back in the land of Louis Vuitton and botox, almost immediately getting himself arrested.  And reamed out by another old friend, also now a Chief, John Taggart (John Ashton), crustier than ever.

The new characters include Det. Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Jane's ex and Axel's new West Coast partner, and Cade Grant (Kevin Bacon), Beverly Hills PD Captain who stokes Axel's suspicions with his thousand dollar shoes.  Both assimilate easily into the series and get to shine in several scenes.  Though perhaps not as brightly as the always entertaining Luis Guzman, who plays a flamboyant cartel honcho.  His karaoke rendition of Hall & Oates' "Maneater" (En Espanol por supesto) is one for the Comedy Hall of Fame. I wanted more interaction between him and Axel.

BEVERLY HILLS COP AXEL F does pay fan service well enough, though the reunion between Taggart and Rosewood happens very late in the proceedings.  Maybe we'll get more of them in the fifth installment, which is already in development.  Bronson Pinchot also returns as Serge, who went from art gallery salesman to weapons dealer, and has a few funny bits.  Playing against him is Nasim Pedrad as Ashley, a very Beverly Hills real estate agent who gets her own chuckles. 

But director Mark Malloy's Movie lacks the old edge, feels compelled to spend considerable time on Axel and Jane's strained relationship.  The two lack chemistry and their plot thread is well meaning but oh so tired.  Screenwriters Will Beall, Tom Gormican, and Kevin Etten do not concoct a storyline/main plot that sustains any serious interest, pretty standard for this series.  It's always been about the characters, and really only the first film managed to fully embrace them.  Ever since, it seems the action overwhelms our engagement.  This time, CGI again makes competently staged mayhem look phony.

This is a definitely a Netflix production.  Remember the days when a BHC movie (and many like it) was a big event at the cinema? Sad times...

Nonetheless, if you're a fan, you should check this out.