My expectations were very low for the fourth film in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. Axel F was released on Netflix and most of the time, these long stretches between sequels are a bad sign. Beverly Hills Cop 3 came out in the early 1990s and this is over thirty years since. And the franchise’s third film was already bad. All of this added up to my expectations being so low.

I was pleasantly surprised when I watched Axel F that I was enjoying the film, that it felt like an Axel Foley movie featuring the cast that I remembered, and that it was funny and filled with some good action.

Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) gets a call in Detroit from Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) in Beverly Hills saying that Axel’s estranged daughter Jane (Taylour Paige) was involved in a tricky case that Billy had been investigating. Billy was worried about her and thought that Axel should come and help. Unfortunately, Billy is captured and disappears before Axel could arrive in town.

Axel immediately began causing trouble in Beverly Hills and winds up arrested where he meets young detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) whose case Rosewood had been interfering with.

I was really pleased with this movie. I thought it was well done and well written. It was not just another cash grab in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. This felt like it had more on its mind than just Eddie Murphy being funny.

Eddie Murphy fell right back into the role of Alex Foley easily and had his typical charisma in doing so. He had that same flair of being an outsider in the world of Beverly Hills that worked so well in the 80s. Taylour Paige was solid as Foley’s daughter. This could have been a cliche with the adult child and deadbeat dad, but her talents and a well written script kept it feeling fresh and strong.

It was great to see Judge Reinhold back as Billy, as well as John Ashton back as Taggart. They both seemed like old friends that we missed over these years. Their participation was kept at a reasonable level, which I think was a good choice. They avoided being seen as overused and instead worked when they were on screen.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt worked well with Eddie Murphy as a younger partner whose relationship with Jane was a tad hokey. There were some solid scenes with these two actors that worked well in the film.

There were several moments that felt similar to previous installments of the franchise, including the finale, which could be considered too similar to the first film. I would have liked something a little more original in the finale because they had done some very good action throughout the film that felt new and exciting. In particular, there is a scene with a helicopter that was excellent. The lack of originality of the final set piece was a negative toward a film that had been doing very well up until that point.

Kevin Bacon is another actor in the film, as a police Captain whose expensive shoes and watch make Axel suspicious of him. Beverly Hills Cop franchise has a history of showing you the bad guy upfront and not trying to make it a mystery. This falls right in line with the other ones. I mean, the minute you see Kevin Bacon appear, you know what is going on.

I did not think that Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F was going to be any good at all, so I am beyond pleased that there was as much humor and action that worked and that Eddie Murphy and a cast of talented actors had a strong enough script to keep them and me involved.

3.85 stars