Beverly Hills Cop 4: Axel Without Madness (review)

Eddie Murphy (almost) still has a knack for playing shock cops. But this very targeted shot of nostalgia no longer has the freshness of the 80’s classic.

A few notes of synthesizer and we are propelled back 40 years. Axel Fthe cult title imagined in 1984 by the composer Harold Faltermeyer (no, it’s not Crazy Frog), resonates at full blast in Beverly Hills Cop 4 (currently online on Netflix) aptly subtitled: Axel F.

Thirty years after his last Californian trip, the Detroit inspector returns to Beverly Hills. This time to protect his daughter, a lawyer, who has been dragged into a dirty case of drugs and corrupt cops by good old Billy Rosewood. With his usual methods that care little for the civil code, Axel Foley will move heaven and earth to bring down those who threaten his child…

Eddie Murphy is no longer the crazy 23-year-old who used to steal the show with his devilishly infectious energy. But at 63, he still knows how to make us smile (and not just in the exhaust pipe). With his broad, bandit-like smile and legendary gift of the gab, Eddie Murphy is given for 2 hours to prevent the nice nostalgic thrill from turning into gloomy melancholy. Because apart from a host of cleverly distributed winks – the returns of Serge (Bronson Pinchot), Rosewood and Taggart (Judge Reinhold And John Ashton) are the bright spots in the film – this Beverly Hills Cop 4 struggles to justify its existence.

The father/daughter drama that underpins the entire (thin) storyline is exhausting. And the new faces, Taylor Paige And Joseph Gordon-Levittnever manage to breathe the breath of fresh air that the saga needed to motivate its dispensable comeback.

It’s clear that this sequel isn’t trying to invent anything. It’s simply slipping methodically into the shoes of a comfortable franchise. Mark Molloy – who is directing his first film here – does not have the genius of Martin Brest (director of the first), nor the ferocity of Tony Scott (of the second) or the malice of John Landis (for the 3rd part). It serves up a lukewarm, action-packed but uninspired cop comedy that recalls the very avoidable revival of Die Hard in 2007, the soulless resurrection of John McClane.

A hyper-calibrated Netflix product, where Axel Foley a ham without madness (the French version without Mel Hondo…) facing a big bad guy Kevin Bacon on autopilot, while a car chase ravages the city and the police chief loses his temper. By the way, the old cop needs to be brought up to date, so it’s Lil Nas X who takes up, in rap, the theme of Beverly Hills Cop…They really thought of everything.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. online on Netflix since July 3, 2024 on Netflix.