Skip to main content

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F review: a blast of summer fun

Eddie Murphy holds his hands up in front of a police officer in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
Netflix
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
“Netflix's Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a refreshingly carefree blockbuster and a testament to Eddie Murphy's enduring star power.”
Pros
  • Eddie Murphy's commanding, charismatic return as Axel Foley
  • Mark Molloy's confident, capable direction
  • A consistently funny screenplay
Cons
  • A forgettable villain
  • A few ham-fisted emotional moments
  • One unnecessary cameo that falls flat

In recent years, we’ve grown accustomed to seeing the big-screen heroes of the ’80s and ’90s come back older and less invulnerable than before. Such a trend is the inevitable end result of Hollywood becoming increasingly reliant on its existing franchises. While some films, like Top Gun: Maverick and Ryan Coogler’s Creed, have managed to bring beloved movie characters back to great results, though, others — like last year’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny — have failed to add anything truly new to their characters’ stories and previous adventures. Many of these legacy sequels have felt as tired as the middle-aged heroes they refuse to let retire, and that very well could have been the case with Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

Recommended Videos

The new, fourth installment in one of Hollywood’s best-ever action-comedy franchises has been in development for years with everyone from Brett Ratner to Bad Boys: Ride or Die directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah attached to it at one point or another. By the time Netflix and commercial director Mark Molloy had become involved, it seemed like the project had already become overworked and saddled with the baggage of all the years that preceded its production. It is, therefore, one of the biggest surprises of the year so far that Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is anything but stale or overloaded. The film is, instead, just as much fun as you’d hope and lighter on its feet than it should be.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Eddie Murphy look at each other in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
Netflix

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F finds its eponymous protagonist, Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy), still causing trouble on the streets of Detroit by routinely taking down criminals in the loudest, most destructive ways possible. He hasn’t lost his passion for high-speed pursuits or gunfights in the time since we last saw him, but the forced retirement of his longtime boss and protector within the Detroit Police Department, Jeffrey Friedman (a returning Paul Reiser), makes it clear that the world isn’t the same as it was 30 years ago. That reality is only made clearer, if not necessarily to Murphy’s stubborn Axel, when he’s forced to return to Beverly Hills to help his estranged, grown-up daughter, Jane (Taylour Paige), uncover the hidden truth of a dangerous case involving the death of an undercover cop.

The conspiracy at the center of Jane’s case isn’t particularly complex, but Will Beall, Tom Gormican, and Kevin Etten’s screenplay wisely doesn’t draw out Axel F‘s mysteries longer than it should. Instead, the film relies on some good old-fashioned police incompetence to justify its 115 minute runtime and, in doing so, gives Murphy’s rule-breaking crusader the chance to stand out even further from most of his scene partners. These include a few familiar faces, like Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), now a private detective, and John Taggart (John Ashton), who has risen up the ranks to become the chief of the Beverly Hills Police Department when we meet him again. Tagging along for the ride are also a number of new allies and foes for Axel to contend with, including Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a Beverly Hills police detective and Jane’s former boyfriend, and Cade Grant (Kevin Bacon), a cocky L.A. police captain.

Murphy has electric chemistry with all of his co-stars, which makes otherwise forgettable characters like Gordon-Levitt’s Bobby pop off the screen more. He and Paige, in particular, get the chance to trade more than a few memorable jokes and barbs during their drives around Los Angeles together. Their comedic banter makes it easier to digest some of the exposition-heavy lines they’re forced to exchange, as well as the ham-fisted, therapy-driven moments of emotional dialogue that drag down what should be far messier arguments. Thankfully, Beall, Gormican, and Etten’s script also keeps the film moving at such a snappy pace that Axel and Jane’s troubled history doesn’t ever stop it from bouncing swiftly from one set piece and hare-brained investigative scheme to another.

Eddie Murphy walks with Taylour Paige in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
Netflix

For Molloy, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F marks his feature directorial debut, but you’d never know that watching the film. He doesn’t pack nearly as much style or attitude into the sequel as Martin Brest and Tony Scott did in Beverly Hills Cop and Beverly Hills Cop II, respectively, but he doesn’t cut unnecessary corners or let the scale of Axel F‘s set pieces overwhelm him, either. He proves to be well-suited for the film’s blockbuster scale — constructing action sequences that aren’t just easily legible but have a practical quality that makes watching them unfold a thrillingly fun experience almost every time. That’s particularly true of the movie’s opening set piece, a chaotic pursuit through Detroit at night, and a chase through the glamorous streets of Beverly Hills that features one unforgettably funny cut to a reverse shot.

As impressive as Molloy’s direction and the contributions of its supporting cast members are, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is ultimately, like the franchise’s first three installments, a showcase for Eddie Murphy. The performer, one of America’s greatest comedic voices, slides so seamlessly back into the role of Axel Foley here that it feels like he never stopped playing him in the first place. Not all of the dramatic beats that Axel F tries to hit in its final third fully land, but Murphy is so effortlessly cool and charismatic that he lifts the entire film up from start to finish. Molloy and co., meanwhile, don’t pass up the chance to spotlight their leading man — peppering several of its action and drive-along sequences with gags and jokes that feel like they could have (and very well may have) come straight from Murphy himself.

Eddie Murphy smiles at Paul Reiser in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
Netflix

It’d be a stretch to call Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F a new classic of its genre. It doesn’t have enough of an aesthetic or narrative personality to rise above either of its franchise’s beloved first two entries, but it does sit comfortably below them. It was made with such visible passion and excitement by those involved in it, and that fact alone makes Axel F a more impactful and infectiously fun movie than so many of the needlessly expensive blockbusters that Netflix specifically has produced over the past five years. That may seem like faint praise given the other movies in that category, but don’t let that dissuade you from giving Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F a chance. It’s the rare legacy sequel that doesn’t feel like a waste of your time.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is streaming now on Netflix.

Alex Welch
Alex is a writer and critic who has been writing about and reviewing movies and TV at Digital Trends since 2022. He was…
10 best World War II movies of all time, ranked
A group of soldiers standing in Saving Private Ryan.

War has always been one of the most consistent sources of inspiration for filmmakers around the globe, with World War II, in particular, becoming the subject of numerous movies showcasing a variety of perspectives. These films attempt to capture one of the most devastating conflicts in history in historically accurate and often deeply personal ways, with many being hailed as timeless pieces of cinema that have gone on to educate and move countless viewers.

From the unbelievably disturbing Come and See to the heart-wrenching Schindler's List, the best WWII movies portray unimaginable atrocities with profound sensitivity. These award-winning works successfully depict critical stories and moments from one of the most pivotal periods of the 20th century, ensuring that the cost and horrors of war are never forgotten.
10. Fires on the Plain (1959)

Read more
Harrison Ford shares candid response to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny failure
Harrison Ford sits and looks up in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Harrison Ford is not concerned with the commercial failure of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. In true Harrison Ford fashion, the 82-year-old used a two-word response when asked about the film's poor box office result.

"S*** happens," Ford told The Wall Street Journal Magazine.
Released in June 2023, Dial of Destiny grossed $384 million worldwide, falling well short of Lucasfilm's expectations. For comparison, the fourth Indiana Jones movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, grossed over $786 million in 2008. Dial of Destiny carried a budget of $387 million, making it one of the most expensive films of all time. Disney later reported a $130 million loss on the fifth Indiana Jones movie.
Despite the underperformance, Ford is proud that he donned Indiana Jones' hat and whip one last time.
“I was really the one who felt there was another story to tell," Jones explained in the same interview. "When [Indiana] had suffered the consequences of the life that he had to live, I wanted one more chance to pick him up and shake the dust off his ass and stick him out there, bereft of some of his vigor, to see what happened. I’m still happy I made that movie.”
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | Official Trailer
Dial of Destiny's director, James Mangold, gave a different reason for the disappointing box office haul, citing a disconnect between an aging hero and the younger audience.
“You have a wonderful, brilliant actor who’s in his eighties," Mangold told Deadline about Dial of Destiny's financial debacle. "So I’m making a movie about this guy in his eighties, but his audience on one other level doesn’t want to confront their hero at that age. And I am like, I’m good with it. We made the movie. But the question is, how would anything have made the audience happy with that, other than having to start over again with a new guy?”
Stream Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on Disney+.

Read more
Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard weighs in on Karla Sofía Gascón controversy
A woman stares into the camera.

Jacques Audiard, the writer and director of Netflix's Emilia Pérez, is the latest creative to weigh in on the controversy surrounding the film's star, Karla Sofía Gascón.

In an interview with Deadline, Audiard addressed the discovery of Gascón's old tweets promoting hate speech, which ranged from defending Hitler to insulting Muslims. What disappoints Audiard even more is Gascón's half-sympathetic approach in the aftermath of the tweets resurfacing. For now, Audiard has no plans to communicate with Gascón.

Read more