With the Netflix Original Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F hitting streaming, it's time to revisit the series which I've owned for quite a while after buying the trilogy in 4K from iTunes for $10. Before starting, I've seen the first one several times, I think I've only seen the sequel once and only remember that it was very mean-spirited, and don't think I've seen the third one, but have heard it's pretty terrible. Let's find out!
Kicking off is the OG Beverly Hills Cop from 1984 (my senior year in high school), the movie that blew Eddie Murphy up into superstar status after his first two movies, 48 Hours and Trading Places. And he was only 23 at the time.
For those unfamiliar with the movie (I'll keep spoilers for a 40-year-old movie to a minimum) somehow, Murphy plays Detroit Police Detective Axel Foley, a young hotshot we're introduced to as an attempted undercover sting involving cigarettes results in a mayhem-causing chase through Detroit's downtown streets. The aftermath has him on thin ice with his boss, Inspector Todd (real-life Detroit cop Gil Hill, who the documentary White Boy Ric alleges may've been dirty), who warns Axel that if he screws up again, he's out of a job.
Matters are complicated when Axel comes home to find an old friend, Mikey (James Russo), has broken into his apartment after getting out of jail. In his possession he has a paper bag filled with German bearer bonds. After hitting a bar and reminiscing over how they stole cars in high school and how it was odd that Axel became a cop, they return to his apartment only to be ambushed by two assailants who knock Axel out and then execute Mikey, taking the bag of bonds.
Put on vacation by a fed-up Todd, Axel drives to Beverly Hills to find answers by checking in with art gallery manager Jenny (Lisa Eilbacher), an old friend of his and Mikey's from Detroit, who had gotten Mikey the security job at the warehouse of Very Wealthy & Obvious Bad Guy Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff). When he goes to Maitland's office to accost him, he's bum-rushed by a half-dozen security men and hurled through a plate glass window and arrested by Beverly Hills PD.
We now meet Detectives Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton) and their boss, Lt. Bogomil (Ronny Cox). They are by-the-book professionals who have no use for Axel's rogue antics and he repeatedly gives them the slip or tricks them into situations because of course the hip guy is going to get over on the squares, can you dig it? Many hijinx ensue.
Revisiting Beverly Hills Cop now is instant flashback to the era. The soundtrack was so ubiquitous with hits like Glenn Fry's opening theme "The Heat Is On", Pointer Sisters' "Neutron Dance" (during the opening heist chase), and the omnipresent "Axel F Theme" by Harold Faltermeyer which for music store keyboard department employees was the tag-team partner to Van Halen's "Jump" for needing a sign forbidding their playing the way guitar departments have a "NO STAIRWAY!" sign.
Murphy is in full control here as he BSes his way into situation - several scenes were improvised by Murphy, which would bite the sequels in the butt as "Eddie does something funny" is not a substitute for writing - and throwing race cards at will (though without the malice you'd get nowadays). But it's not all razzle-dazzle bluster; there are moments of quiet drama where Murphy shows that he wasn't just a young buck comic, but had acting chops as well. (I still believe that he would've won an Oscar for Dreamgirls if they hadn't released Norbit while Oscar voting was still happening. If they had just waited a week, his career the past nearly 20 years would've been far different.)
Credit for holding this wacky comedy-gritty crime movie together goes to director Martin Brest who manages to balance the competing tones nicely, allowing Murphy room to cut loose without it becoming overly indulgent & obnoxious. (Which the sequel illustrates when tone is handled incorrectly.) Brest had directed the charming geezers-robbing-a-bank movie Going In Style before and would go on to direct the well-regarded Midnight Run before blowing up his career with the tag team of Meet Joe Black and the Bennifer debacle Gigli, but here he nails what the material needs.
The tropes of hip vs. square, urban street smarts vs. urbane procedure following, West Coast vs. Motown which would become stock items on the buddy cop crime comedy checklist began here and when you see how poorly things go when the balance isn't maintained, you appreciate even more what Beverly Hills Cop accomplished. It's also fun to see co-stars Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot (both in their second film roles ever and Pinchot pretty much converted mincing art gallery employee Serge into Cousin Balki on the Perfect Strangers sitcom) and Damon Wayans make his debut in a bit part as Banana Man.
As for the presentation, the 4K Dolby Vision is good and clear, but nothing you'd show off to demo your home theater. This is due to the look of the film being deliberately drab in Detroit before getting bright in Beverly Hills. Audio is basic 5.1, clear and dated, typical of the era.
Score: 8/10. Buy it for $5 or less.
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