Fast talking Detroit detective Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) returns to Beverly Hills when the life of his estranged daughter Jane Saunders (Taylour Paige) is threatened.
Forty years since the original Beverly Hills Cop and thirty years since the most recent Beverly Hills Cop 3 we now have the fourth film in the franchise. As modern day sequels are allergic to having simple numerals in the title this one is named after the famous Harold Faltermeyer theme music “Axel F”.
The film mostly follows the Beverly Hills Cop format and welcomes back a number of returning characters whilst reusing most of the famous songs from the series.
Step One: Axel gets into some madcap action whilst in Detroit in his day job. This time a chase sequence through the city in a snow plow is the order of the day. The twist is that the angry commanding officer who has to deal with the fall out is his good friend and returning character Jeffery Friedman (Paul Reiser).
Step Two: A friend or loved one is killed or injured. Here we meet the previously never mentioned daughter of Foley who is a lawyer defending an alleged cop killer.
Step Three: Foley almost immediately understands who the villain is and spends as much time as possible annoying him whilst trying to get some evidence against him.
Step Four: A final shoot out rules out any need for said evidence but provides an action sequence finish.
Wrap up all of the above in a fish out of water buddy comedy with a fast talking Eddie Murphy and voila… Beverly Hills Cop.
The end result is a solid affair that is certainly better than the third entry in the franchise but fails to challenge the opening two films for wit or invention.
What works well here is that whilst the film has many returning characters and call backs (I will get to these in a moment), it actually chooses to pair Foley with new characters for the majority of the film. The first half focuses on pairing him with his estranged daughter. She is a chip off the old block who can verbally spar and keep up with him. The second half of the film he is paired with his daughter’s ex-boyfriend Detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) which allows him to be a bit more action focused and learn some hard lessons.
As for the call backs and returning characters there are many. The only real exception being the omission of Bogomil (Ronny Cox) who appeared in the first two films. Judge Reinhold (1, 2 & 3), John Ashton (1 & 2), Paul Reiser (1 & 2) and Bronson Pinchot (1 & 3) all return with varying degrees of believability and success. Whilst there is also a photograph of Gilbert R. Hall who died in 2016 on the wall of Friedman’s office. More bizarrely there is also a Happy Gilmore cameo to keep your eyes open for. Whilst the best joke in the entire film is a direct reference to how bad the third film was. How about that for meta?
Ultimately this is a film for nostalgia seekers rather than people new to the character and it just about gets the balance right between these references and having a serviceable action movie plot.
Fine. But perhaps Axel should head into retirement now.
If you want to read more of my opinions on Beverly Hills Cop check these out:
Phil the Bear's Film Reviews 
Just caught up with this awful mess of a movie – $150 million wasted on an old man trying to recapture his 80’s success. Most of the cast are waxworks not action stars. A first time director who is well out of his depth here. Only cinematographer Eduard Grau emerges with any credit. No wonder Netflix movies are quickly forgotten if this is what they want to invest time and money. It’s pitiful – sorry Phil it’s not a “solid affair”, more a sad one.
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Sorry you found it so bad. I will agree with you that Netflix movies have been moving towards the sort of quality I used to consider as “direct to video” when I was younger.
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Well observed. Direct to video with a crazy budget
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