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.
