The New Beverly Hills Cop Is a Predictable Recap, and I Don't Care
You can (justifiably) complain about the new Netflix movie's flaws, or you can relax and sway to its recycled rhythms. Photo: Netflix/courtesy Everett Collection
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F wasn't created by an algorithm, but you could be forgiven for thinking it was the algorithm. Co-writer of Boys: Ride or Die, and Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten, who together wrote The Unbearable Weight of MassiveTalent, co-written by Will Beall.
Less than a minute into the film, released exclusively on Netflix, we hear the saxo क्यूphone blasts of "The Heat Is On," Glenn Frey's hit from the original Beverly Hills Cop. This is immediately followed by Bob Seger's "Shakedown" from Beverly Hills Cop II and the Pointer Sisters' "Neutron Dance," which is reminiscent of the first installment.
The big set piece that follows — an attempted robbery at a Detroit Red Wings game that Axl is determined to thwart — lands Axl in trouble with his superiors, as usual. (Paul Reiser, reprising his role as Axl’s onetime partner, Jeffrey, is now the chief.) Then Axl learns that two people he cares about are in potential danger in L.A.: his estranged daughter, Jane (Zola’s Taylour Paige), a criminal defense attorney representing a client who may be framed by corrupt cops, and Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Axl’s old friend who is embroiled in uncovering the truth about those same cops. Before he can even say Harold Faltermeyer, Axl is back in Beverly Hills, trying to solve a case that is 100 percent outside his jurisdiction, seeing as how this guy operates in Michigan.
It's the same plug-and-play plot structure used in the first three movies, which means Beverly Hills Cop: What makes the first two movies so successful — Beverly Hills Cop III isn't canon in my world — is that they also serve as delivery systems for Murphy's charm as a guy who's willing to go crazy for a laugh or speak in a parade of silly voices.
Murphy could probably play this role in his sleep, but he actually seems to have fun doing Axel Foley things, like creating a false identity to get access to much-needed intelligence — “I’m Axel Foley, the producer of Liam Neeson’s new revenge thriller, Impound,” he tells an aspiring actor who works in an impound lot — and vamping in front of the camera by singing with Mary J. Blige or flashing his trademark smile when he gets the chance. (Often the chance is just that.)
Axel and Jane’s story is filled with intrigue. She holds a deep resentment towards Axel because he cares more about his work than his daughter, which, wow, I’ve never heard that before. But Paige and Murphy manage to put so much heart into their arguments and interactions that we believe their issues are real and unique to their relationship.
While the returning actors can comfortably ride the wave of nostalgia that comes with reprising their roles - in addition to Reiser, Reinhold and Ashton, Bronson Pinchot comes in as Serge, an artistic guy with a completely unknown accent - the new additions to the Beverly Hills Cop universe fit in quite seamlessly and give strong performances. This includes Peggy as well as Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a Beverly Hills officer who is a slew of Murphy and Luis Guzman who has a cracking cameo.The way he lets the line "I'm layered and I'm complicated" slowly drip off his tongue is worthy of a standing ovation, even if you're watching alone in your living room.
As Taggart says in another completely apocryphal line: "Jesus Christ, some things never change." Axel F doesn't want them to change, and this movie relies on the fact that Netflix subscribers don't want that either