Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F review – fish-out-of-water Eddie Murphy chases past glory | Film

Eddie Murphy isn’t done yet – as he proved with his stunning performance as Blaxploitation pioneer Rudy Ray Moore in Dolemite Is My Name . But there’s something a little tired and predictable about this new outing for his iconic Detroit cop Axel Foley from the Beverly Hills Cop action-comedy franchise that made Murphy an explosive Hollywood star 40 years ago – and whose catchy Axel F theme became an ‘80s anthem, resurrected here. He’s back for a fourth film, once again abandoning his Detroit stomping grounds to be a sleazy fish out of water in the hilariously posh world of Beverly Hills, once again ironically noting from the steering wheel of his car on the way in a montage of all things Californian, including a license plate that reads: PRE-NUP.

Axel’s adult daughter Jane (Taylour Paige), a lawyer, is in Beverly Hills, threatened by a conspiracy of corrupt cops that may involve the dour, suited Captain Grant (Kevin Bacon) – and once again, among other franchise alums, Axel runs into his old BHPD cop buddies Billy (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton), who supposedly retired and then returned as chief. Like the Detroit PD – and indeed the Miami PD, which employs bad boys Will Smith and Martin Lawrence – they have a laid-back attitude toward retirement.

Murphy gets madcap chases in a snowplow, a traffic control vehicle, a golf cart, and a helicopter, and there are the tried-and-true scenes where he shamelessly fast-talks his way into fooling various arrogant or unhelpful club doormen and security gatekeepers into letting him in. It’s still funny when Murphy uses that “white people” voice that was once a staple of his stand-up comedy days. But like Murphy’s 2021 sequel, Coming 2 America, this feels a little lackluster, and a grown man like him can’t pull off the subversive anarchic comedy energy he did. Murphy could still do comedy or drama with the right script, but that assumes a lot of the audience’s brand loyalty.

• Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is available on Netflix from July 3.