Axel Foley has at long last returned to the spotlight in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, the fourth installment in the popular franchise, excluding the unaired/leaked, "Son of ..." pilot. The Netflix release was directed by Mark Molloy and written by Will Beall, Kevin Etton and Tom Gormican, who've made certain the heat is on and even more energized than before.
In addition to Eddie Murphy reprising his famous role, Axel's old pals return in significant, supporting capacities: Paul Reiser's Jeffery Friedman (now a Deputy Chief); John Ashton's Chief John Taggert; Judge Reinhold's Billy Rosewood (retired but still on the job); and Bronson Pinchot's Serge.
Joining them is Taylour Paige's Jane Saunders, Axel's estranged, attorney daughter; Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Det. Bobby Abbott (Jane's ex); Luz Guzman's cartel-linked Chalino; Kyle S. More's Det. Mike Woody; and Kevin Bacon's Captain Cade Grant, the movie's main villain.
The plot concerns Foley's daughter being assigned to a case in which a young man (Damien Diaz) has been framed for an officer's death. The frame-up ties to a cocaine ring, which Grant helms. (Bacon, who's played a number of villains in the recent years, is quite suave and chilling in his role, making it easy to root against him at every conniving turn.) Foley learns of the situation through Rosewood and heads from the Motor City to Beverly Hills to assist his daughter, but soon finds the quandary more complicated than expected.
Much of the movie plays like prior, Beverly Hills Cop chapters, with a buddy motif connecting the pieces, but in this case is more a daddy-daughter dynamic, with Abbott occupying the action parts. Whether with Foley/Saunders or Foley/Abbott, the quips come fast, overlapping sentimentality with a pleasant crassness that defines this series.
The action sequences are first-rate, in particular a madcap, stolen-helicopter escapade. The old tunes accompany the action well, pouring welcome nostalgia over the elaborate smash-ups.
Without question, Axel F is as entertaining as its predecessors (working plenty of comedic, neo-pulp charm along the way) and is good enough to have earned a big-screen release. I give Netflix a ton of credit, though, for putting this one in the forefront. If you enjoy the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, you gotta see Axel F--and see it now! This is a quality resurgence, so satisfying that it wouldn't be at all surprising if Netflix dished fans a Part V.
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