Directed by: Mark Molloy
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, Joseph Gordon Levitt, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, Bronson Pinchot, Paul Reiser
In a twist I surely didn't see coming, I enjoyed Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. It worked in its intended way, with Eddie Murphy returning to the role of Detroit detective Axel Foley, who for the fourth time in the last forty years will be traveling to Beverly Hills to take care of personal business. He should keep an apartment there.
Axel is now a divorced man with an estranged daughter (Paige), and he still does things his way and wreaks havoc. Chases after criminals usually results in exorbitant amounts of property damage and Axel's captain having to bail him out. In this case, Axel's captain is Jeffrey Freidman (Reiser), his buddy from the first two films who recently submitted his retirement papers after being chewed out over another of Axel's antics.
Meanwhile, Axel's daughter Jane is defending an alleged cop killer who was framed by corrupt cops. Jane's car is soon dangling from a parking garage with Jane still in it. Axel is soon on the next flight to LAX, where he hopes to rendezvous with his old friend Billy Rosewood (Reinhold), who is now a private detective after quitting the force over his discoveries of corruption being ignored by his former partner and now police chief John Taggart (Ashton). Billy is kidnapped by the bad guys, and Axel and Jane, along with straight-arrow cop Bobby Abbott (Levitt), try to find out what's happening. The villain is Captain Grant (Bacon), who wears suits far too expensive for a cop's salary, has goons at his disposal, and may as well be wearing a t-shirt stating his intentions.
Axel and Jane fight and reconcile as expected. Par for the course. But even though Axel F. has one too many chase scenes which run long, it's slick and entertaining, with Murphy clearly having a ball. It's also good to see some of the old faces from the previous films, although Pinchot's Serge was only funny in the first film. His appearances in part III and Axel F. are rambling and endless. The movie also takes potshots at Beverly Hills Cop III, which I think are undeserved. It's the weakest film in the series, but I still found myself liking it. I'm in the minority I'm sure.
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