Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)

40 years after sweeping the world by storm, and 30 years after his last outing, Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills, and a lot has changed in the world while much stays the same. This one tries to capture the spirit of the earlier movies, but aside from a few winks and nods, doesn't accomplish anything the first two did better. They thought they could replicate the magic by using the exact same songs, but all it does is remind you of better days gone by. In terms of fun, this feels the least rewatchable to me, and I'm not sure how much of that has to do with Netflix's desaturated color grading, which makes everything look a lot more drab and murky compared to the other films in the series.

John Ashton returns for the last time, as this turned out to be his final role.

2½ stake-outs of 5

Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)

Tony Scott takes over the reins from the original, resulting in a much more action-oriented approach, but a lot less brains. The result is not quite as memorable or iconic as the first film, but the catchy soundtrack remains.

Murphy reprises his role as smart-aleck Foley, with John Ashton returning as the hard-nosed sergeant, but Judge Reinhold undergoes a bit of character assassination here as a gun nut. It mostly thrives off the camaraderie and witty repartee between Axel, Rosewood and Taggart, and sometimes that's enough.

3 shoot-outs of 5

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Alex Foley is a fast-talking undercover detective who makes his way from the hard streets of Detroit to the glam life of Los Angeles in the first of this buddy cop action comedy franchise that defined the '80s and launched SNL veteran Eddie Murphy into superstardom (after previously making a splash in 48 Hrs).

What's great is how director Marty Brest balances the grittiness of the drama with the silliness of the humor, which was never quite replicated to the same effect throughout the series. The back-and-forth antagonism between Murphy and the two by-the-book detectives Taggart and Rosewood (John Ashton and Judge Reinhold) is irresistibly charming. It's an '80s staple that still holds up, even though the surrounding cultural landscape has changed significantly.

The soundtrack is a big part of the reason why this remains such a classic, from Harold Faltermeyer's catchy synth theme to some great '80s pop hits.

4 bananas in the tailpipe out of 5