While it’s been 30 years since Eddie Murphy last donned Axel Foley’s Detroit Lions jacket, that’s hardly remarkable by today’s standards. Heck, the gap between and Netflix’s is shorter than Murphy’s other legacy sequel, 2021's (that one courtesy of Amazon), a 33-years-too-late follow-up to its 1988 predecessor. No, time isn’t the primary factor when considering the pluses and minuses of ; it’s the fact that, by ‘94, Eddie Murphy was all but checked out on Foley’s misadventures, turning in a yawner performance in an otherwise inert action comedy.
It seemed the electric, rapid-fire charisma that had made Murphy a superstar in had all but dried up. So, what’s changed? If Murphy couldn’t muster his character’s nervy energy in a film made when he was in his prime, what are the odds that a movie made a full three decades later will be a return to form, not just for the franchise but its star? Must there be another movie? Netflix seems to think so, as it’s positioned as its big July 4 holiday release. Murphy and fellow producer Jerry Bruckheimer also clearly believe there’s plenty left in the tank for ol’ Axel, as there are already plans Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Fans of moldering franchises, particularly those seemingly undying series from the vaunted ‘80s, have already been down this road plenty of times.
With , Murphy’s character joins a pantheon of aging screen icons who’ve dusted off their pop ephemera for one more.