Janice R. Andrews
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F has landed a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes after its first reviews, signaling a new chapter in the beloved franchise. Eddie Murphy reprises his iconic role as the wise-cracking police officer Axel Foley, who returns to Beverly Hills and reunites with Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton) after his daughter Jane’s (Taylour Paige) life is threatened.
Following the positive first reactions from last month, the movie now sits at a critics’ rating of 68% on Rotten Tomatoes from 63 reviews. This has secured the film the second-highest score of the franchise, though it still doesn’t come close to the first installment’s impressive score of 83%.
The new sequel, according to Digital Spy, “fails to recapture the magic of the first movie.” The review goes on, saying that “If all you want to do is watch Axel perform again, it will, at most, be a fun Netflix watch for fans with a ton of fan service.” It’s certainly not as awful as the third film, at the very least. However, the majority of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’s many references only serve to remind you that you could be viewing the much better original film.”
Here’s what some of the other critics have been saying:
Entertainment Weekly: “While Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F isn’t terrible, and it does have a few funny zings plus one decent chase scene, there’s not a molecule of originality on display. One can’t help but call it a missed opportunity.”
Independent: “The film has the confidence to poke fun at the franchise’s infamously bad third entry, yet comes to the table with nothing to prove, nothing to say, and nothing for Murphy to work with.”
Variety: “The film is hardly Beverly Hills Cop; it is paced like a standard police corruption thriller, lit with a shoddy efficiency, and it pauses every ten minutes or so for a ‘light’ moment. However, we should be thankful for it, as opposed to the clunky throwback mess of Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) or the ballistic noise orgy that was Beverly Hills Cop II (1986). I also have a feeling that many viewers who grew up in the 1980s will be.”
The Hollywood Reporter: “Murphy seems at least marginally more engaged than he did in Beverly Hills Cop III, and his big personality makes Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F better than a lot of Netflix features.” On the side, the film has actual location shooting in Los Angeles. It still feels, nevertheless, as though it was created using concepts that were 40 years old. Enjoy, if that’s alright with you.”
Though it falls short of perfectly encapsulating the spirit of the first movie, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F nevertheless provides a nostalgic trip down memory lane for fans of the franchise. If the movie doesn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessors, fans of the series will still have something to look forward to because of Eddie Murphy’s return as Axel Foley and the film’s references to earlier entries.
