Beverly Hills Cop II

I finally saw this sequel and it was better than what many people say. Murphy has some very hilarious moments and Reinhold and Ashton were just as good. Also, the action scene's were decent too, though the chase with the cement truck was'nt as good as the chase in the first with the transport truck. I did notice that the film lacked the freshness of the first one but still it was fun to watch.

Beverly Hills Cop 2 is pretty much just the same as the original Beverly Hills Cop but without the freshness and originality of the 1st. Murphy is still a perfect Axel Foley and with some good supporting characters such as his foul mouthed chief of police and Detectives Rosewood and Taggart the movie does have it's moments but the rules of diminishing returns still apply.

With a bit more originality in the script and a bit more daring this really could have been great. But for a sequel this isn't to bad just more of the same but not quite as good.

6/10 - Not as good as the original but far superior to the tepid third instalment.

In Beverly Hills, cops Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox), Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), and John Taggart (John Ashton) are investigating a series of crimes known as "The Alphabet Crimes" so named because of the envelopes containing coded messages with a letter of the Alphabet on the envelope. Meanwhile, in Detroit, Detective Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is working undercover on a credit card fraud ring. After Bogomil is shot and wounded by assailants attached to the crimes, Axel soon learns of what has transpired and without his superior's knowledge travels to Beverly Hills to assist Taggart and Rosewood on an investigation as they avoid the incompetent and politically motivated Chief Harold Lutz (Allen Garfield).

Following the success of Beverly Hills Cop, Paramount Pictures, producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, and star Eddie Murphy were eager to do a follow-up. While original director Martin Brest turned down the opportunity to return, Tony Scott who'd directed Top Gun for Bruckheimer and Simpson was hired due not only to his work on Top Gun but also due to Scott's desire to work with Murphy. As with the original film there was a lot of re-writes going on behind the scenes, but in addition to the usual on the fly improvisation the film also needed reshoots as Tony Scott proved more adept at action rather than comedy necessitating the inclusion of additional comedy scenes. While the film was not as successful as its predecessor, it still made enough to be considered a blockbuster hit becoming the third highest grossing film of 1987. Critical reception tended to run more mixed and even Eddie Murphy has voiced similar feelings saying "it was probably the most successful mediocre movie in history". Beverly Hills Cop II isn't an awful movie and is perfectly serviceable, but it also feels like a more manufactured take on the first film often eschewing the rawness of the original in favor of flash and polish.

Despite not having the best material to work with, Eddie Murphy is still fun playing Axel Foley who still gets to use his motormouthed lies to work his way through situations such as how he manages to live in a mansion for the duration of the plot. Admittedly there's a lot of scenes where it seems like Murphy's trying to wring life out of not all that impressive sequences (an opening bit involving Foley investigating fraudulent credit cards goes nowhere except a reference to a one off character from the opening scene of the last movie) and some of his lies don't have the feeling of spontaneity they had previously such as one involving the Playboy Mansion. Murphy, Reinhold, and Ashton work well together and the fact they share so much screentime together is a plus to the movie. In terms of the rest of the movie, it does feel like it's more of a traditional blockbuster this time around. If the first Beverly Hills Cop was a comic detective story with an edge and some action, Beverly Hills Cop is an action movie where the comedy is largely secondary. There are many more action setpieces in this sequel with each one trying to up the ante on the climactic ending from the first film, but in the process the movie loses a lot of the raw identity that resonated so much in the first film. The plot basically follows the same path as the original with Foley investigating in Beverly Hills for personal reasons (in this case rapidly setting up Foley and Bogomil have since become friends) but there's so little build-up or personal investment that the stakes never feel as high and you're constantly reminded of how much better the first one did this. Jurgen Prochnow and Brigette Nielsen are at least charismatic and imposing villains, but they don't play against Murphy as successfully as Steven berkoff did.

Beverly Hills Cop II is the definition of "servicable". There's nothing especially wrong with it, but there's also nothing especially right with it and it mostly rests on the goodwill of its cast to justify its existence.

Axel Foley is back in Detroit when he hears his old friend Bogomil has been shot during an investigation into the Alphabet robberies. He returns to Beverly Hills to rejoin Taggart and Rosewood in the investigation. Hooking himself up in a big mansion Axel lives well until the trio find themselve up against Maxwell Dent and Karla Fry who are planning a major arms deal with the profits from the robberies.

Never one to turn down a sequel to a hit film (how many has he done now?) Murphy returns for part 2. The first problem the film has is how to keep the material fresh. One of the first things we discover is that the producers didn't manage to answer this question very well. The plot again is nothing special – it could be any cop thriller although the action scenes are a little bigger this time around.

In terms of comedy, Murphy's shtick isn't as funny this time around as he merely wheels out the same sort of jokes all over again – we even have the difficult Lieutant from part one replaced with, you guessed it, another difficult authoruty figure! While Murphy tries hard he can't lift this the way he lifted the first one, however it still has some funny touches added.

The best addition (and one of the few that works) is Rosewood's sudden obsession with big guns – that works because it's new, but it's the only bit. Ashton replays his performance as the annoyed Taggart. The baddies are not as good as before – Nielsen is pretty vapid if you ask me, and I don't think she's sexy in the least. Prochnow is ok I guess but really can't match the `ham and eggs' haminess of Berkoff. Stockwell is a nice addition and Reiser is always watchable.

Overall it's still fun but really it's an inferior copy to the original (just like all Murphy's sequels). Lacks spark, flair and freshness but is still a passable cop comedy.

It's always a risk watching any old movie. There are, of course, many fine classics that only improve with age. However that's the exception in my experience and so, so many don't pass muster no matter how well they were received at the time.

That's pretty much the case for "Beverly Hills Cop II" as it followed close on the heels of the original. Eddie Murphy remains a motor-mouthed comedian and has enough charisma to keep the movie afloat. His shtick isn't all that funny from a distance but it's good enough.

The rest of the movie is rather trite and the script a nonsense that lacks even action film logic. You've got an arms dealer, some violent robberies and Hugh Hefner. I suppose that made sense when strip clubs were a Hollywood staple but now it's just embarrassing.

Still the film isn't awful and it's an easy, relatively short watch. You've got plenty of action, a reasonable quota of recycled jokes and some decent actors. Not great but not terrible.