Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Eddie Murphy is back as Axel Foley, 40 years after his first outing! Most of the original gang in fact is back - Taggart, Rosewood, an unrecognizable Jeffrey and Serge. I've seen BHC 1 & 2 countless times, I can quote them almost verbatim. The third was largely forgettable and a noticeable drop in quality so it was with some trepidation I heard that they were finally going to do a 4th installment. Eddie Murphy had repeatedly said over the years he'll only do it if the script is right but still, I always feared they would modernize it too much and miss the magic of the original.

I'm happy to report they got it mostly right! It was just fun getting to see the characters again on screen after so long. Eddie Murphy slips back into Axel with similar sass and recklessness we remember him as, albeit with a little bit of a softer edge. Judge Reinhold and John Ashton haven't done many (if any) projects in the last 20+ years and they're used sparingly but the scenes with the three of them together just ooze chemistry and if anything I'd have loved there to be more! The new additions to the cast do a solid job too: Kevin Bacon just never disappoints but again, the script could've used him more. Joseph Gordon Levitt does a good job as the straight cop who eventually gets swept up in Axel's plans. We also find Axel has a daughter, Jane, who he's estranged from - it's a bit run-of-the-mill and we don't get too much of a backstory but in truth it's not what this movie is about, that's more of a side-story that gives Axel a bit of an arc to have during the movie. It's not an overbearing part of the plot and it helps give the movie a little extra heart.

The soundtrack is very well done. It's got all the iconic themes and songs from the original that is just pure nostalgia and it plays such a crucial role in bringing the movie together.

Nostalgia was always going to be a big draw for this movie, especially with so much of original cast back. Many movies can get it wrong by being too heavy-handed with it, but here (like Top Gun Maverick) I found it to be spot on; enough to put a smile on your face when you spot the throwbacks, but woven seamlessly enough into the story that it doesn't feel forced.

They don't shy away from the fact that 40 years has passed, the style of movies (especially comedies) has changed for better or worse, but I think they did an admirable job in trying to make a 2024 action comedy feel like one from the 80s with enough refreshments so it doesn't just feel like a lazy copy yet keeps the charm of the original. It's a really delicate (nigh impossible) balance but they get much more right than wrong. It's quite a bit better than the 1994 third attempt (Joseph Gordon Levitt with a cheeky line in reference to it when he first meets Axel) and I'm glad we get to see the trio reunited one last time for some 80s shenanigans!

Was it a blockbuster movie? No. Was it fun to take a trip down memory lane having worked in the movie theater when the first came out? Yes! It was fun to see the original cast and characters. And it was great that they brought back the original songs from the first movie too.

Say what you will about it being a money grab or whatever, but we enjoyed seeing Axel, Billy, Taggart, Jeffrey and Serge again! They're great characters that we grew old with.

And Kevin just makes for a great villain. He's got the smile and swagger. You knew right away he was the bad guy.

We recommend watching it for the nostalgia value at least.

I'm a sucker for a good nostalgia movie. Stallone did it with Rocky and Rambo, Ford with Indy, Han Solo and Deckard, Cruise with Maverick... now it's Eddie Murphy's turn with Axel F!

I thought the third movie had definitely killed off any hope of another but this definitely recaptures some of the magic of the original movie without going over the top to get a laugh, which is what I think was the problem with number three.

A great mix of action and comedy without going too far for the laughs. Great to see Taggart and Rosewood back together, with some great additional characters. Sime interesting cameo appearances too.

I really wasn't expecting much. The third movie was so bad, and this one straight to streaming, I figured it would be a disaster. But it wasn't! I think if they tried to update it too much and there wasn't as much nostalgia (music, familiar characters), it would've been a flop.

The story is ok, just not very strong. The action was ok, but it was a a lot of rehashing of the opening sequence of the first movie - plus, everyone is so much older now, there can't be as much running or rolling around on the floor. The humor throughout is decent, I wish there was more.

The weakest of it all is the actor who played Jane. Unfortunately, she's not very good in the emoting department - she's way worse than Brigitte Nielsen was in the second movie. Anyways, it's still a decent watch if one is a fan of the originals. It's good enough to have deserved a theatrical release. Not bad at all.

I was 18 when Beverly Hills Cop came out, (saw it at a drive in), here I am 40 years later, reconnecting with my youth. Same characters, same sound track it's absolutely fantastic. In all honesty I reckon outside of the original, this is the best. It was laugh out loud funny at times, I really struggle to watch a movie these days from start to finish, just jumped on this one and was crushed when it ended. A couple of classic scenes included the woman who played the unhinged real estate agent, just brilliant stuff, as well as the hideously underrated Luis Guzman completely dominating his three minutes as the supposed drug cartel Uncle of the wrongly convicted dogsbody. Really enjoyed this one.