Director: Mark Molloy
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Paige, Judge Reinhold
Have I Seen It Before: Nope.
Did I Like It: The fourth film in the series is occasionally quite amusing, and always a little more than amiable. This immediately puts it ahead of Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) which is an interesting anti-comedy singularity, whose super gravity makes everything around it less funny, and for which I keep wanting to add things to my review*.
It’s also not nearly as funny as the original Beverly Hills Cop (1984). That’s not a terrible sin. Quick: Name a sequel that’s as good or even better than the original. I’m sure you’re coming up with several examples. And you’re right. Let’s make it a little more challenging: Name a comedy sequel that’s anywhere near as good as the original. I’ll wait**.
The slightly more troubling quality is that the film is thoroughly committed to eliciting memories of the first film, especially with those needle drops, that I think I may owe Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) an apology, as I callously accused that film of the same thing, and now never in a million years would I accuse Tony Scott of eating Martin Brest’s leftovers.
Also, did I hallucinate this, or did Axel (Murphy) claim to be celibate at the weirdest possible time in the weirdest possible way in this film? I mean, the notion of a comedy action star claiming to eschew the flesh isn’t the worst jumping off point for a movie, and in fact it would have been weirdly original idea. But here, it’s thrown in the mix without anything to back it up or pay it off, I can’t help but wonder if Murphy insisted on adding it into the film. Which only makes it weirder…
*Why the hell didn’t John Singleton direct that? He was right there. Come to think of it, why are all four directors in this series white? This feels a pointedly dumb ongoing choice.
**I might, might, give you Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) up against Lethal Weapon (1987), but I would contend that the original Weapon is far less of a comedy than the first Beverly Hills Cop, and it would likely be the least controversial opinion I would express that day.