It’s been 40 years since Detroit’s rebellious cop Axel Foley came onto our screens and into pop-culture, changing the face of movies forever. Eddie Murphy returns to the character that made him a global superstar (with the iconic Detroit Lions letterman jacket) 30 years after his last on screen adventure with one of the greatest characters in the history of film and television. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F goes back to its roots and origins. The first image is of Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley driving through the streets of Detroit, Michigan to the song ‘The Heat is on’ performed by Glen Frey, to a montage of the Detroit streets, which really hits you as familiar yet new in a modern setting. What always made the Beverly Hills Cop franchise special was the music, which was almost like another character in the movies, elevating the storylines and character arcs with style bringing back these 1980’s classics in a way that gives it energy. It achieves this with classic music such as ‘Shakedown’ by Bob Seger, ‘Neutron Dance’ by the Pointer Sisters, an updated version of and new music by Coi Leray, such as the remix ‘Hot in the City by Coi Leray and Billy Idol which is used for Axel’s classic montage when he is driving into Beverly Hills, with subtle call backs to the originals. World class film composer Lorne Balfe was in charge of the music for the movie bringing back the iconic Axel Foley theme song written originally by Harold Faltermeyer. The song features in different variations throughout which gave it a modern twist keeping the spirit of what made this franchise great in a kind of modern retro vibe and got the original trilogies nominated for Oscars.
The story revolves around Axel Foley’s daughter Jane (Taylour Paige) who’s an accomplished lawyer in Beverly Hills and is helping Billy Rosewood with a high profile case involving the death of a undercover cop, involving drugs and possible corruption within the police force. When she is threatened for investigating the case by mysterious thugs, Billy alerts Axel that Jane needs help, so he flies to California once again to investigate. He meets up with John Taggart (John Ashton) who is now the Chief of Police of the Beverly Hills Cop Police Department, after retiring years ago. We meet young detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who is aware of the legendary stories of Axel Foley, and finds himself dragged into this case which they begin to discover has bigger corruption and consequences then they could of imagined. We meet the suave Captain Cade Grant played by another 80’s legend, Kevin Bacon, who is also investigating the case with his own men, but may have more nefarious reasons for being so focused on this case. They end up clashing with the always charismatic Eddie Murphy who brings more layers with Axel as a father, an older battle tested veteran cop, and is never afraid to challenge the status quo of authority. Paul Reiser returns as Jeffrey Friedman, who’s now the Deputy Chief of Police for the Detroit Police Department. One of Axel’s longtime friends from the original movies, the eccentric Serge played by Bronson Pinchot, also returns and is trying and failing hilariously to contain Axel Foley’s antics. This fourth installment is a very faithful follow-up and continues the legacy to a franchise I religiously grew up watching as part of my love for films. 1984 – the year the original film was released – was a special one in film history with releases such as Ghostbusters, Terminator, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Footloose, Gremlins, Splash, Sixteen Candles, The Karate Kid, Romancing the Stone and more, with some of these movies also now franchises today. Mark Molloy directs with Jerry Bruckheimer once again producing.
Eddie Murphy commented during an interview with Jake Hamilton on his Jakes Takes YouTube Channel (Read Below):
“From the very beginning I’m improvising and coming up with stuff, and how about trying to add and make it funny.”
“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is available to stream on Netflix.
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