The New Beverly Hills Cop: A Predictable Yet Nostalgic Journey

Eddie Murphy’s iconic character, Axel Foley, once said, “You fucked up a perfectly good lie,” to two Beverly Hills police officers in the legendary 1984 hit Beverly Hills Cop. As a Detroit police officer conducting his own investigation in California, Foley managed to convince two straitlaced local officers to join him in a strip club, where he foiled an attempted robbery. Covering for everyone, he tells the BHPD lieutenant that “supercops” Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton) made the bust. When the officers admit that Foley did it all, Foley is bemused, remarking, “I’m trying to figure you guys out, but I haven’t yet. But it’s cool.”

The Rise of Eddie Murphy: A Hollywood Phenomenon

The first Beverly Hills Cop catapulted Eddie Murphy to superstardom. The film dominated the box office for 13 consecutive weeks from December 1984 to March 1985 and became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of its time. Murphy’s success led to a triumphant return to Saturday Night Live, substantial earnings for Paramount, and even an album featuring a cover photo by Annie Leibovitz. Despite releasing the infamous song “Party All the Time,” Murphy’s popularity remained unscathed.

The movie was a Hollywood star vehicle meticulously crafted to showcase Murphy’s strengths: his quick-witted humor, street-smart charisma, high energy, and undeniable coolness. It presented him as the quintessential 1980s maverick cop, whose Blackness stood in sharp contrast to the predominantly white Beverly Hills police force. Foley, familiar with Detroit’s gritty reality, arrives in the opulent world of Beverly Hills and makes it his mission to teach the local department what it takes to solve real crimes.

Breaking the Rules: The Axel Foley Method

The original Beverly Hills Cop centers on Foley demonstrating the power of breaking the rules to the Beverly Hills officers. He talks his way into warehouses without warrants, disobeys direct orders, and charges into houses with guns drawn, covering up any misconduct committed while taking down a drug-smuggling art gallery owner. After the climactic shootout, Foley praises the BHPD lieutenant not for heroics, but for fabricating a convincing lie to the chief.

Read also:- Julian Assange’s Plea Deal with the U.S.: A Major Development in the WikiLeaks Saga

The sequels retained the original’s theme that effective police work involves a healthy disregard for regulations. In 1987’s Beverly Hills Cop II, Foley, Rosewood, and Taggart confront a bureaucratic chief—a figure everyone deems incompetent. Despite this, the trio manages to dismantle a burglary ring and eliminate the villains. In 1994’s Beverly Hills Cop III, the antagonists are a corrupt Secret Service agent and the head of an amusement park’s security. The cops, undeterred, fight valiantly, employing machine guns against security guards to bring the criminals to justice.

A New Era: Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Thirty years later, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F enters a vastly different landscape for police officers on screen. Today, it’s hard to imagine a studio crafting a vehicle for a rising Black star to play a cop. Superheroes, perhaps, but a badge and a gun? Unlikely. In a time when the focus on police highlights their flaws more than their heroism, Axel F is the first in the series to explore the notion that cops lying and covering up their misdeeds might be problematic.

Axel Foley’s Return to Detroit

Axel F opens with Foley portrayed more as a Detroit mascot than a law officer. He drives around in his beat-up car, greets friends on the street, and endures good-natured ribbing from local kids. After the obligatory opening shootout and car chase, Foley’s chief, played by Paul Reiser, sacrifices his career to save Foley’s—not because Detroit needs Foley, but because Foley needs the job. Despite being a relic of a cop, Foley has nothing else in his life.

A New Mission in California

Foley returns to California when Rosewood informs him that his estranged daughter, Jane (Taylour Paige), is in trouble. An attorney, Jane is trying to exonerate an accused cop-killer she believes was framed. Rosewood concurs and has clashed with the chief and his old partner Taggart over claims that a narcotics task force led by Cade Grant (Kevin Bacon) is corrupt.

The Convoluted Plot of Axel F

The story, penned by former Los Angeles detective Will Beall, is both complex and straightforward. Despite numerous twists, it’s clear that Jane and Rosewood are correct. From his first scene, Bacon’s character exudes untrustworthiness. (“He’s the first police captain I’ve ever seen in $2,000 Gucci shoes,” Foley quips.) With Rosewood and Taggart sidelined, the movie pits Cade Grant against BHPD detective Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), an enlightened, by-the-book detective determined to solve the murder case by following the evidence wherever it leads.

Conclusion: A Nostalgic Ride

While Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F may be a predictable retread, it still delivers the nostalgia and charm that fans of the original series crave. Eddie Murphy’s return as Axel Foley reminds audiences of the maverick cop’s enduring appeal, even in a vastly different cultural landscape.