Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)

Streaming on Netflix Now!

★★★1/2

Can someone please tell me why this movie isn’t playing in theatres?!?! This could have been so much fun to watch with an audience on the big screen. I don’t understand how Paramount let Netflix get ahold of the rights, but with a proper advertising campaign, this could have done really well in theatres. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is how you do a legacy sequel right! It’s enjoyable and has some good action, great comedic moments, a great nostalgic soundtrack, the OG cast, and a fun, albeit lacklustre plot. It’s just like the original films, just brought into the modern age. It feels like a Beverly Hills Cop film should, and Eddie Murphy truly is BACK in his iconic role of Axel Foley. While this sequel struggles to tell a compelling overall story, there is plenty present that will pull fans into this world once more, including a nice emotional touch with Taylour Paige’s Jane. The action is solid, the score is full of retro goodness, and there are plenty of charming and funny Murphy moments that I have been missing as of late. It lacks originality but holds plenty of charm — it's a fun watch that lives up to the spirit of the original film!

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Premise: Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills after his daughter's life is threatened, and works with old pals John Taggart and Billy Rosewood to uncover a conspiracy.

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Netflix

Directed by Mark Molloy

Screenplay by Will Beall, Tom Gormican & Kevin Etten

Story by Will Beall

Cast: Eddie Murphy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Page, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, Kevin Bacon

Runtime: 1hr 57min

Rating: 14A

Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller

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IMDb Rating: 6.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 66%

RT Audience Score: 80%

RT Critic Average: 6.1/10

RT Audience Average: 4.1/5

Metacritic Score: 55

Letterboxd: 3.0/5

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Fun Fact: When Joseph Gordon-Levitt goes over Axel's three other cases in Beverly Hills, he mentions that the third "wasn't his finest hour," which is referencing Beverly Hills Cop III, that Eddie Murphy despised and is the lowest rated of the series.

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