Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  John Landis

Starring:  Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, Hector Elizondo, Timothy Carhart, John Saxon, Alan Young, Theresa Randle, Gil Hill, Bronson Pinchot, Stephen McHattie

Beverly Hills Cop III could almost pass for the original film which was supposed to star Sylvester Stallone and not Eddie Murphy.  Murphy is less the wisecracking cop from Detroit, but instead a full-blown action star and he's convincing enough being that.   As a comic action film, Beverly Hills Cop III is no better or worse than countless other films of its ilk.   It is on par with part II and less so than the original Beverly Hills Cop.  

In Cop III, Murphy's Axel Foley is heading up a raid on a Detroit chop shop.   When Foley knocks on the door, he asks the person who answers, "Is this the illegal chop shop?"  Shootings ensue and Foley's boss Inspector Todd (Hill, who was so memorable in the first two films) is killed by the cold, ruthless Ellis Dewald (Carhart).  Foley traces Dewald to Beverly Hills, where he works as the head of security for Wonder World, a Disneyland-like theme park.   Dewald isn't merely providing security, he is heading up an operation producing millions in counterfeit money.   Foley is on to him and enlists his buddy Billy Rosewood (Reinhold-the lone holdover from the first two films) to help take Dewald down.   Assisting Axel and Billy, though reluctantly at first, is Beverly Hills policeman Jon Flint (Elizondo) who works with Dewald at the park but soon sees through Dewald for the criminal he is.

Rosewood is a liaison for several local alphabet soup agencies and has a somewhat funny scene in which he calls in everyone but the CIA to surround an abandoned, empty truck left behind by the bad guys.  Nothing in Beverly Hills Cop III is funny per se, just mildly amusing, even when Axel dresses as a theme park character to infiltrate Dewald's operation.   Theresa Randle is on hand as a park employee who is the first love interest Axel Foley has had over the course of three Beverly Hills Cop movies.  Also appearing from the first film is Serge (Pinchot),who has moved on from making espressos at an art gallery to selling high-grade weaponry at gun shows.   He and Axel have a loooong, catch-up conversation which stops the movie dead in its tracks.

Cop III recovers and goes on to serve its purpose as an action comedy with more emphasis on action than comedy.   Foley indeed visits Beverly Hills in this sequel, but he could've followed Dewald to New York instead of California and no one would've noticed the difference.   It's filling in the temporary way a donut is filling, but soon you'll be hungrier for something more substantial in about an hour.