Just recently I have rewatched the first and second Beverly Hills Cop and stated that the comedy elements were pretty dominant in those parts and certainly helped these films give a unique flavour since Eddy Murphy is a genuine funny guy.
I wished I could have said the same about the latest part in the franchise. Basically, the best bits are shown in the trailers. Meaning, if you have seen all those trailers, you have seen it all. Axel and his old comrades have the best chemistry, therefore it is truly dumbfounding that their roles have been reduced to glorified extra's. One could say the same about Kevin Bacon. You don't even need to think about why is there, he clearly is the villain of the story. Bacon doesn't even try to fool the audience. For a few minutes I was wondering whether Bacon was some kind of red herring and that the real villain had yet to reveal himself. Wouldn't it have been shocking and funny if Serge turned out to be this master criminal mind and had every villain from the previous films under his pocket? Over the top, sure, but certainly a funnier and wilder concept than this generic villain who doesn't do that much.
The action is also generic. As part of the promotion, Eddie Murphy was stating that he isn't a young guy any more and that he couldn't do much himself. I would argue that with the little action there is present, he basically could do most of the stunt work himself. That is how unimpressive it is. After all this time, one can't get away with such laziness. Either bring in top comedy, or give us good action. Now both are bad, giving you an incredible underwhelming experience.
Don't get me started on Axel and his daughter. In their fights, they rarely mentioned the mother and why exactly Axel and his daughter were estranged from each other. Here was a good opportunity to show us a younger Axel handling diapers and more, to then realize he is out of his league and then decides to buy a pack of smokes. This by the way could have been a dream sequence or something. The actress portraying the daughter was awful. She failed to bring credibility, nor was she funny. And her constant childish whining became tiresome after two minutes we get introduced to her. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's role is another mystery. He is brought into the franchise as a younger cop, but with nothing of value to add. I like him, but fail to see why he was in this.
Overall, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is one big disappointment. Some say it's better than the third. Granted, I am not the biggest fan of Beverly Hills Cop III but to do it real justice I will revisit it and then compare it to this one. For now, I want to say that this is just as bad or even worse. Certainly, not better.
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