REVIEW:
Axel F is not a very good movie. In fact, it is probably the worst of the Beverly Hills Cop movies. Now, that should come as no surprise being as how the most recent version of a movie series is often the worst, since it is the furthest away from the original (think the Matrix movies, and how each one got worse than the next.) But this one is so bad that it’s almost like they weren’t even trying. The crime story is about as simple as it gets with a detective on the force who is corrupt and in on it with the killer they are looking for, and with all of this spelled out from very early on in the movie.
The revealing who the real bad guy is about half way into the movie (what is normally the twist ending,) isn’t such a big deal. After all, if it was saved for the end like in the recent Bad Boys 4, we’d just be saying that we knew this all along, and it really wasn’t much of. surprise. So at least they don’t pretend like the audience is a bunch of idiots with that one. But the problems are that the movie isn’t funny and that the action isn’t exciting. In fact, there is not one memorable action scene in the entire film. The closest they come is when Axel Foley and the young detective he’s working with (played by Joseph Gordon Levitt,) jump into a helicopter and take off only the realize that the Levitt character can’t fly it. But that’s it. Other than that, there’s no interest in making this action feel different than any other action movie we’ve seen before. Say what you want about Beverly Hills Cop 3 (most people consider it the low bar for the series,) but the idea to set the entire movie in a theme park actually made it different and memorable when compared to every other action movie out there.
Not only does the action not work here, but neither does the comedy. Eddie Murphy has gone on record talking about how he intentionally trained himself to not laugh in the very specific goofy way we are used to hearing him laugh. But guess what? That’s part of the character. In fact, that’s his trademark. So the laugh is gone, and so is the humor. The same way that there’s not a single memorable action scene here, there’s also not a single memorable funny scene.
In fact, the most interesting part of this movie is the dramatic element of Foley not being a part of his daughter’s life, and for years blaming that on his daughter. She didn’t want any part of him, and he was okay with that. In this movie she tells him that it’s always the parent’s job to be the more responsible one, even when the kid is being stubborn. The fact that this is the most interesting element or an action comedy says a lot for how much this movie doesn’t do, that it should be doing. This movie makes so many wrong turns and tries so little to be something interesting or creative, that it ends up being a total waste.