You know I am still not exactly sure if the title of this movie is just Axel F or Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F! Either way, this was awesome and one of the most fun movies I have seen this year. I kind of wish that they released this in theatres as it would have been really cool to have seen this on the big screen.
How to Download Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F was released on July 3, 2024. You can download or stream the film from Netflix. Click on the Download button at the end of this review.
The Movie Review
I love all three Beverly Hills Cop movies…. Yes, even the third, actually this is going to sound crazy to people, but I have a massive soft spot for it…. And it is my favorite. Look, I was just going to say that I had a soft spot for Beverly Hills Cop III and leave it at that, but no. Beverly Hills Cop III is my favorite movie in the series and I am not ashamed to admit it. Hey, I love the first two as well, but I think the fact III was the only one I saw in the theater does mean I have more nostalgia for it.
A Promising Start and Eddie Murphy’s Performance
So, I had been following the making of Axel F for a while and the more I heard about it, the more excited I got for it. They managed to get the old gang back together which I thought was so awesome. Axel F has one of the most fun openings of any movie that I have seen this year. Axel and a rather anxious cop are tearing up Detroit trying to chase down the bad guys and it is so “Beverly Hills Cop” I knew from the opening 10 minutes that they knew what they were doing.
Eddie Murphy manages to tap into Axel Foley once again and he has not skipped a beat. It is kind of cool that Axel Foley has just been the same wild, do whatever it takes to take down the bad guys cop since we last saw him 30 years ago. The humor and delivery are just spot on, I was a little unsure if Eddie Murphy would be able to fall into this character again after all this time, but he does so effortlessly.
The Plot and Cast Dynamics
So how exactly does Axel Foley end up in Beverly Hills again? His estranged daughter ends up in some trouble in Beverly Hills, as does his old buddy, Billy Rosewood. Judge Reinhold is just so awesome and Billy Rosewood is my favorite character of his. I do wish that we got to see more of Axel and Billy together, but the short amount of time these two are together is great, plus, we even get the trio of them with Serge!
There is some major corruption going on with the Beverly Hills Police Department and Axel’s lawyer daughter is caught up in it. When Axel gets arrested in Beverly Hills, he meets a detective called, Bobby Abbott, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who has a relationship with his daughter, Jane. While it was the old cast getting together that had me excited, the new blood here including Kevin Bacon was a blast and fit in so well.
Character Depth and Action Scenes
The relationship stuff with Jane and Axel is done really well, it kind of grounds Axel. While we very much get the fast-talking, crazy driving, and gunslinging Axel Foley, the stuff with him as a dad and the troubles with his daughter add depth to this character. Eddie Murphy even at the age he is, is still super cool, but we do get to see him be a bit more vulnerable here.
The action is great with some epic pieces. The opening chase scene in Detroit is amazing, but we also get a super fun crazy scene with Axel and Bobby tearing up Beverly Hills in a helicopter. The movie is tied together with a tremendous soundtrack that you better believe I have listened to a few times on Spotify already.
Final Thoughts
It would have been so easy for Axel F to be another unnecessary sequel/reboot of a popular 80s and 90s franchise. However, this is not that at all. The people who made this movie were clearly huge fans of the original three movies and it shows right from the start. I loved this movie, it is one of the best of the year and I hope that Netflix gives this a physical release at some point as I would love to add it to the collection.
