Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F - Review

Rating: 3 out of 5

I HAVE to admit to being hugely excited by the prospect of the return of Eddie Murphy as Detective Axel Foley - not least because of a keen sense of nostalgia (I'm at that age!) and some decent trailers that suggested a return to the quality of the first two films.

Alas, the film itself proves to be somewhat disappointing given its slavish adherence to the original, some uninspired action, wonky comedy and anaemic villains.

Mark Molloy's film feels like a greatest hits checklist of all of the key moments from the first films, while what passes as new [the so-called bonus tracks] feels mundane and unoriginal.

The film opens in Detroit (as usual) with Foley (Murphy) creating havoc following a heist at an ice hockey stadium that eventually spills over into the streets and involves multiple pile-ups involving a snowplough.

It then wastes no time in switching to Beverly Hills, where Foley's long estranged daughter Jane (Taylour Paige), now a defence lawyer, finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy involving possibly corrupt cops, led by Captain Grant (Kevin Bacon).

This, in turn, allows Foley to re-team with some former allies from his past - most notably Billy (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton) - as well as new detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who just happens to share a romantic history with Jane.

And so the scene is capably set for the usual shenanigans, as Foley uses his street smarts and witty fast-talk to bamboozle the rich elites around him, ruffle the criminals feathers and generally create his own brand of destructive chaos.

There's running gunfights in the street, more vehicular destruction involving a golf cart and a helicopter, and yet more reunions - most notably with Bronson Pinchot's one-time scene-stealing former art gallery owner Serge.

But while there is certainly a welcome sense of the familiar in being reunited with such iconic characters, it's just a shame that the script and general storytelling doesn't make it feel like more of a good time.

Murphy is as charismatic as usual but has few moments that are genuinely funny. Indeed, most of his better moments come during the father-daughter bonding, which also allows Paige some decent scenes - but which, on the whole, feels wholly contrived and somewhat melodramatic. There's nothing overly raw in the way they work through their issues, while the resolution is never in doubt.

Elsewhere, Reinhold and Ashton are under-used, Bacon is criminally wasted as the obvious villain and Gordon-Levitt does typically brilliantly in a part that actually affords him very little.

Pinchot's cameo is one of the more excruciating sequences - outdated and tone deaf in terms of comedy and over-egging the pudding in so many ways.

But then Axel F also misses out on the opportunity to really expand on any of the issues it seeks to comment on - where once, the fish out of water element of Foley's original arrival and impact on the Beverly Hills fraternity felt fresh, urgent and genuinely ground-breaking, this one dilutes the issues, waters down the comedy and takes easy pot-shots at flimsy targets.

Surely, there was room to wreak some more telling social commentary/carnage on an America where divisions between wealth, poverty and race have become more stark?

But then perhaps we were expecting too much, especially given that this is a Netflix production, tailor-made to reach easy demographics and tick its own obligatory boxes (it's little wonder product placement is also rampant).

Taken on its own basic levels, Axel F delivers an undemanding, nostalgia fuelled slice of easy blockbuster viewing. It's innocuous and inoffensive enough to pass the time and raise the odd wry smile.

But where the best reboots - Top Gun: Maverick, The Force Awakens and even Bad Boys - riff of the memories while freshening things up, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is merely content to play things safe and deliver what's expected. It's an improvement on the much derided third movie in its franchise... but only just.