Hollywood sequels are a bit like buses - if you wait long enough, one will eventually show up.
And so it comes to pass that Beverly Hills Cop became the latest resurrected film franchise. It's been a while, baby. Jack Charlton was still Ireland manager the last time Eddie Murphy played Axel Foley.
So when I heard the franchise was returning for a fourth outing, I feared the worst. I mean, it was pretty sad not so long ago watching Harrison Ford reprise his Indiana Jones persona.
Now this?
Eddie Murphy admitted as much when he recently remarked that, as a 63-year-old, he couldn’t possibly perform running stunts. At least I think that’s what he said.
Anyway. Axel F is back. And the movie's a hell of a lot better than I thought it was going to be.
After destroying half the cars in Detroit on the way home from an ice hockey game, Detective Axel Foley heads over to Beverly Hills to reconnect with old pals Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton).
Foley’s estranged daughter Jayne (Taylour Paige), now an LA-based lawyer, has had her life threatened and there’s only one guy reckless enough to plough through every brick wall on Rodeo Drive to get to the root of the problem.
Foley teams up with earnest, up-and-coming cop Detective Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to take on the baddies - including a barely conscious Kevin Bacon as a corrupt cop - crash a lot of cars and generally cause bedlam in Beverly Hills.
The best part is when Eddie and co go check on a big posh gaff with a local real estate agent. It adds nothing to the plot, but it’s played like a scene from Donald Glover's Atlanta. It was like finding the Halloween ring in a heavily-buttered slice of barmbrack.
Otherwise the story is straightforward – Axel could drive blindfold through the script without causing a scratch – but this is a well-paced action-comedy that’s got plenty of laughs and not even the hint of a surprise.
And, hey! It put a smile on my face. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is available on Netflix from July 3
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