Here we are, the easiest series to rank to date. The Beverly Hills Cop adventures were one that purely hinged on its star being golden. And I guess the old saying "2 outta 3 ain't bad" goes to work here. Without Murphy in these however, they become generic and forgettable. Heck, if he doesn't show up they get that way and worse.
I was kinda hoping the abandoned pilot would leak and I could have added it to this retrospective, but alas, it didn't happen. Where are we going with this fourth one? My guess is something along the line of the death of Rosewood will bring Axel Foley back to Beverly Hills again. The death or severe injury of someone close seems to be what always is responsible for him being drawn back to Beverly Hills. And Judge Reinhold isn't someone a studio is gonna give a full time role in a new film. Even if he was integral to the original series. I'm sure they'll want to reboot this and try to get at least 3 more going (if the first pans out). So likely we'll get faux Rosewood and Taggart to be "newer" and "fresh". It's what they do. And if you have a choice between having someone like Channing Tatum as a part of your franchise right now or Judge Reinhold, who are you gonna go with?
So, it appears like we'll be revisiting this retrospective in the future. I'd like to say for Beverly Hills Cop 4 to at least be better than 3. But that's really not saying anything. MOST franchise movies are better than Beverly Hills Cop 3. So just give us a good movie. Speaking of 3...
The less we harp on this one the better. Dull, generic, uninspired and a chore to sit through. The thing is, I think this film would have been ok had Murphy shown up like he did for the first two films. Jon Landis was exited to work on this, he didn't think the script was good, but he knew that's how things went on these. He expected Eddie to just work his magic like the previous two. Unfortunately, he got "serious, mature" Eddie and it didn't pan out at all.
This isn't bad, its just a flashier copy of the first. Had you made 2 separate films between this and the first and swapped Murphy out for a traditional performance in the lead, making them straightforward generic crime/action movies, i think this one would win out. Call me crazy. This one just falls in the trap of being that rehash sequel. Taking everything more "extreme". And in that there's some exaggeration of beat with characters early on that play kind of like "ok, yeah, i get it, i remember" until they settle down in the second act. Its a solid followup. Its just not as good as the first, and that's not a big deal.
Zzzzzzz...i know, most boring finish to a retrospective series yet. This film is an absolute classic and contains some of the best comedy from the 80s. And this one surprisingly holds up very well today. Its a film I definitely haven't seen enough. Eddie Murphy puts on one of those great performance that I really don't think people refer back to enough. He is completely consumed in Axel Foley. Take a look at this and then look at 3 (don't though, just trust me). The two truly aren't the same character. If Murphy can reprise this for a fourth, I'm all for it. But if he's not all in, they really shouldn't bother.
And that's that. The "fan requested" retrospective. Thank you, Jose. It was a great idea and proved somewhat relevant last week. Who knew. I know these were off pop topics, but I hope some of you went back and enjoyed 2 of these too.
Our next retrospective is a little bit away, but will be another short one. But, please don't Riddickcule me for it!
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