Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)
July 4, 2024 9:34 AM - Subscribe
Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills after his daughter's life is threatened for a family reunion that includes old pals John Taggart and Billy Rosewood to uncover a conspiracy.
Pure pop entertainment. Would’ve been nice to have a more villainous actor than Kevin Bacon in that role.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:10 PM on July 4
posted by billsaysthis at 11:10 PM on July 4
Overall I liked it, but I thought it was close to being better, which is actually kind of fun cause it makes me want to nitpick.
I felt like the plot was fun, enjoyably predictable (Kevin Bacon how could you?) but I sort of felt like the dialog often plodded on a scene-to-scene level. I'm not sure if I wanted the writing to be punchier, if it was maybe an editing rhythm thing, or if this is just an an action movie in the 80s tradition and as such little bit dumb by design.
It really highlights the magnitude of energy 80s Eddie Murphy brought to a movie, though. I don't think it's possible to recapture that. He was an absolutely electric presence on the screen and, while the dude's looking great and clearly brings a ton of fun to the table, he just doesn't personally drive this movie's momentum in quite the same way. Maybe even more impactful is that most of the characters are lifelong friends at this point, rather than strong personalities clashing over problem solving styles, which sets aside a lot of the tension at the center of the originals. Joseph Gordon Levitt is an excellent actor but his character had this reserved confidence thing going on that added the opposite of tension to the mix. He worked the best when they undermined it in a couple of sequences, like the helicopter chase. I would have liked to have seen a lot more of that kind of friction.
Speaking of the helicopter chase, the action set pieces totally worked for me. Wanton destruction in upscale locations. Fun, percussive, reasonably creative across the board while staying in a kind of classic mode. No notes.
Music was maybe a little on-the-nose, but that theme song will slap forever.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 11:18 AM on July 5 [4 favorites]
I felt like the plot was fun, enjoyably predictable (Kevin Bacon how could you?) but I sort of felt like the dialog often plodded on a scene-to-scene level. I'm not sure if I wanted the writing to be punchier, if it was maybe an editing rhythm thing, or if this is just an an action movie in the 80s tradition and as such little bit dumb by design.
It really highlights the magnitude of energy 80s Eddie Murphy brought to a movie, though. I don't think it's possible to recapture that. He was an absolutely electric presence on the screen and, while the dude's looking great and clearly brings a ton of fun to the table, he just doesn't personally drive this movie's momentum in quite the same way. Maybe even more impactful is that most of the characters are lifelong friends at this point, rather than strong personalities clashing over problem solving styles, which sets aside a lot of the tension at the center of the originals. Joseph Gordon Levitt is an excellent actor but his character had this reserved confidence thing going on that added the opposite of tension to the mix. He worked the best when they undermined it in a couple of sequences, like the helicopter chase. I would have liked to have seen a lot more of that kind of friction.
Speaking of the helicopter chase, the action set pieces totally worked for me. Wanton destruction in upscale locations. Fun, percussive, reasonably creative across the board while staying in a kind of classic mode. No notes.
Music was maybe a little on-the-nose, but that theme song will slap forever.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 11:18 AM on July 5 [4 favorites]
I have been reading the ads on the subway as "Beverly Hills Cop: Ax Elf" for weeks now and it's such a relief to get that out of my head
posted by phooky at 1:15 PM on July 5 [6 favorites]
posted by phooky at 1:15 PM on July 5 [6 favorites]
It was very much a Jerry Bruckheimer film, that had Eddie Murphy in it, being very Eddie Murphy.
I guess it knew the assignment and didn't really stray from that so ..? :: shrug ::
posted by Faintdreams at 4:32 PM on July 6
I guess it knew the assignment and didn't really stray from that so ..? :: shrug ::
posted by Faintdreams at 4:32 PM on July 6
Real stunts and crashes and less CGI made for a “more realistic” and more 80s experience. I agree with Phobos that the friction was missing. Even the supposed estrangement with the daughter could have been played much stronger (and could have been explained). But it was a fun movie. The digs against BHC3 were well done.
posted by gryphonlover at 12:03 AM on July 8
posted by gryphonlover at 12:03 AM on July 8
Beverly Hills Cop: Ax Elf
I'm gonna need a script on my desk by Friday.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:24 AM on July 8 [2 favorites]
I'm gonna need a script on my desk by Friday.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:24 AM on July 8 [2 favorites]
Wife and watched this the other night and it definitely felt like it was trying to do a thing and it did it's best. It was... fine.
My main problem with it, asides from the disturbing meaning of the fact that nostalgia is very, very, very clearly targeted towards my generation now, was that it felt like it was disjointed and that there was connective tissue missing all over the place. Like we jumped between plot points without any clear "oh, this is how we got there".
So yeah, the script needed to be tighter and more cohesive, but all of the leads are charming, the fact that the goons were worse shots than storm troopers felt right, Bacon's death actually felt more shocking than what we'd see in the 80's.
Also, this story plays absolutely merry hell with LA geography and jurisdictions.
posted by drewbage1847 at 4:55 PM on July 9
My main problem with it, asides from the disturbing meaning of the fact that nostalgia is very, very, very clearly targeted towards my generation now, was that it felt like it was disjointed and that there was connective tissue missing all over the place. Like we jumped between plot points without any clear "oh, this is how we got there".
So yeah, the script needed to be tighter and more cohesive, but all of the leads are charming, the fact that the goons were worse shots than storm troopers felt right, Bacon's death actually felt more shocking than what we'd see in the 80's.
Also, this story plays absolutely merry hell with LA geography and jurisdictions.
posted by drewbage1847 at 4:55 PM on July 9
The instrumental theme song, sure, but I hadn't heard that Bob Seger song in so long and it's better than it has any right to be.
posted by emelenjr at 1:17 PM on July 15
posted by emelenjr at 1:17 PM on July 15
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Have to admit that I liked the cameos and callbacks.
Mainly inoffensive.
posted by porpoise at 6:51 PM on July 4 [4 favorites]