BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Taylour Paige, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kevin Bacon, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot
Director: Mark Molloy
AMARÚ
Axel F is exactly what you want from a legacy sequel. It pays homage to the originals, mirroring a lot of scenes without feeling too reductive (although, it is juuuust a bit), yet it’s modernized without trying too hard. The action is grounded, Eddie Murphy is natural, and his chemistry hits with franchise vets and new cast members alike. He and Taylour Paige bring dramatic heft to balance the silliness, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the perfect amount of cool off of Murphy’s comedic gravity. The nostalgia is heavy in this one, but when building on the classics, nostalgia helps solidify what’s new.
PRESTON
An unapologetic nod to the original Beverly Hills Cop, Netflix’s sequel Axel F is packed with nostalgia. The tone is similar to the first, and the cinematography is decent, but the script is extremely flat. The comedic elements attempted are of the half-smirk variety, and none of the characters seem to genuinely connect. The first few action scenes are a little difficult to stomach, but its predictable flow and outcome are entertaining enough. Otherwise, the best part of the film is the score from Lorne Balfe, who repurposes Harold Faltermeyer’s original “Axel F Theme Song” into varyingly paced, synthesizer magic.
QUENTIN
In my review of Bad Boys: Ride or Die, I said, “there are a few nostalgic callbacks…but ehhh. Amusing, but never funny; actiony, but never exciting.” That pretty much applies to Axel F too. That said, perhaps you’ll get more mileage from Eddie Murphy than Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, or (like me) you’ll find the soundtrack is full of bops, including the timeless “Axel F” theme, that call back to my youth. Either way, for better or worse, this is about what I expected from another unnecessary, lazy, straight-to-streaming legacy sequel to a stone-cold Murphy classic (remember Coming 2 America? I almost didn’t).
ADRIANO
Axel F is fine, I guess. The crime plot is uninteresting, I felt nothing with the father-daughter subplot (Taylour Paige is actively bad in this), the nostalgia baiting is pathetic, and the action and most of the humour fall flat. I gotta say, though…Eddie Murphy has still got it! His delivery got consistent laughs out of me, lifting even the most subpar jokes in the movie to a legitimate belly laugh, which is all I really ask for with an Eddie Murphy movie. So, while this movie is certainly not very good, I had fun with it.
