John Landis and Mark Molloy direct Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, Bronson Pinchot, John Ashton, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Kevin Bacon in this threequel and long-awaited legacy sequel to megastar making / mega hit original where a Detroit cop solves a crime amongst the rich and shameless of Los Angeles.

John Landis knew the script wasn’t there when he started shooting Beverly Hills Cop 3. Yet he had worked with Eddie twice before and knew his star’s penchant for fast talking improvisation could switch the dud into a hit. Only Murphy turned up on set with different ideas. He felt Foley was older and wiser now. He would take the cartoonish mystery set in a theme park seriously. There’d be less trademark wisecracking. Which leaves us with a Beverly Hills Cop movie where Axel loses various interactions in the first act. Bruv can’t even finesse himself into Wonderworld for free. There’s something so wrong about seeing Foley open up his wallet and pay for something. With Murphy subdued, everyone else ramps up the hammy daftness. The filmmaking style is flat, textureless and the editing way too slow to cover up weak gags and soft action set pieces. Hitchcock always wanted to make a paranoid thriller set at Disneyland. This is the closest we got to that fertile concept. The first half has two decent set-pieces. A sport car falls apart as Murphy chases some bad guys in the Detroit prologue. And then our hero saves some kids from a defective ride, eighty feet up in the air. OK… so the green screen and the stunt work is kinda blatant but this five minutes of thrills is actually pretty ambitious. I reckon if it had one of those classic Harold Faltermeyer themes playing over it we’d consider the rescue a franchise highlight. The movie itself is hard to defend, a half hearted cash-in. Yet as a fan there’s just enough forgivable content that for me it doesn’t stink out the box set.

30 years in the offing Axel F is an improvement. Formulaic and nostalgic as fuck… but made with a slick expertise. Murphy carries everything creaky and unoriginal on his shoulders. He shines. All the returning players get welcome bits of business. Every familiar piece of music associated with the series is resurrected. There isn’t one trademark demolition derby set piece but four. Snow plough, meter maid cart, helicopter AND truck full of statues. Spoilt. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a little wasted as Murphy’s new partner but all in all this had me smiling constantly from studio logo to “Trust Me” freeze frame.

Below are two scores that are the most generous I have given in my near decade doing this diary. Yet in spite of their gaping inherent flaws both flicks tickle me thoroughly, have me laughing gutturally at both Eddie’s unparalleled A-list charisma and the bursts of blockbuster excess. Most Saturday nights, that’s all I truly want from an entertainment.

6/7

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