Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Movie Review - Nostalgia Is Boring Now 

You forgot to mention Eddie doesn’t do his iconic Beverly Hills laugh in this movie either☠️

Hollywood's biggest issue is they no longer take risks. The 80's felt like the best time for movies. I'm not saying all the movies were great, there were plenty of stinkers. Maybe it was all the cocaine, but it feels like they green lit whatever landed on their desk. They were willing to gamble on the next big thing. we don't have that anymore, everything is either a reboot or a remake nowadays.

I loved it, from beginning to end. It didnt try to be overly funny by inserting bad jokes everywhere, it has Eddie Murphy improvising a lot of good scenes, and it was genuinely funny. Was it as good as the first one in the franchise? No, of course not, but its still good enough to be a quality movie, soundtrack was also dope!

I thought it definitely delivered better than BHC 3, slightly off the mark of BHC 2 but definitely a serviceable sequel

I thought it was pretty good. My biggest hangup was how taggart treated axel and Josep Gordon levitts character towards the second act. Like after EVERYTHING he and Axel have been through, he'd treat him like that?

I thought it was pretty good, I mean the OGs being 30-40 yrs older is amazing and decent story and nostalgia and all

Finally a reviewer that didn’t let nostalgia cloud their opinion on this film. They waited way too long to make this film and it brought nothing but fan service from previous films.

The bar is just so LOW nowadays isnt it. It's just fine, a totally fine non offensive coupla hours.

I thought it was fairly good and that it still had a nostalgic vibe to it. It was nice to see some of the same actors in it too ☺️

I thought the same thing after watching: "It's ok.. it's ok." During the credits they were doing the Netflix thing where they show all the voice over actors for the different languages. I thought about watching a couple scenes in other languages, to see how the voice actors encapsulate Axel's character. But before I could choose a language, I saw "English with description." I ended up watching THREE QUARTERS of the movie a second time with the description voice guy telling me every non verbal thing that was going on. 10/10 would HIGHLY recommend! LOL

People should know this was like a 150 MILLION DOLLAR MOVIE

I washed it last night, thought it was OK. Fell asleep twice. eventually I finished it.

Its painfully mediocre and feels small, stifled and forced... perfect recipe for Netflix. Bad Boys took the cinematic route to revive their series, but this was forgettable at best. BOOOOORING.

Strange. I was talking with my wife last night and mentioned the same thing you did at the start (though you said it better). Movies lost the urgency and extras they used to have. Thanks for pointing me away from this movie. I thought about watching it but when you mentioned the "daughter" subplot I was out. Thanks.

$235 a night in 1984 is now $712 I was probably the only one who wondered, but..

Murphy said a few years ago in an interview, "I'm tired of doing crappy movies." Then "Mr. Church" flopped. Now we have "Coming to America 2" and "Beverly Hills Cop 4," because no one is tired of getting paid.

Netflix doesn't require you to use the same camera. I've seen people say this a bunch lately but it's not true. They require you to shoot in 4k but that isn't why the movies all look the same. That has more to do with the post-production process and how it's streamlined.

thank god I thought I was going mad with everyone else praising it. It's disposable fluff. Where have all the decent cinematographers gone? Beverley Hills Cop 2 had amazing shots in it with direction from Tony Scott. There's nothing like that here. Also did anyone else believe his Daughter was actually his Daughter in this. She came across really flat in this, I don't know what it was but she always seemed to be a little aloof throughout with no real connection to what was going on. Like she was a last minute insert etc

i like to mention this a first time filmmaker for Axel F, who’s previous films includes directing a bunch of product-commercials

Just watched it yesterday and fell asleep after 30 mins or so. Nah, the Beverly Hills Cop fire went out long time ago. I think sometimes you just have to let things be as they are.

It was waaaaayy better than it had any business being. Love the continuity of the daughter looking almost exactly like Theresa Randle from 3 who I am assuming is the mother. I enjoyed it.. Love how in the hotel he said "F it.. I'm tired of this shtick.. I'll pay for the room". They don't beat it over your head that he's old now. It's just reflected. I wish I watched it in IMAX doe.

Should have left it alone. Just like Coming to America. Stop dusting these old movies off and doing sequels decades too late.

When they did the “race bit” at the hockey stadium at the start I was like ah here we go.

1) Eddie was against wearing the jacket, again. He said his character wouldn’t wear this, 30 years later. So it was more producer-pressured. Eddie should’ve gone with his instincts. 2) Eddie is not a dancing monkey. His laugh was real…and then it became copied, mocked…and a side show for random people to ask him to “perform”. So, he trained himself to stop his 1980’s laugh-DECADES ago. 3) No one wanted this, or any other nostalgia-bait sequel. However, judging this as stand-alone (…and not a play-by-play comparison to 1984) I gave this a B grade. The first 20 minutes have too much nostalgia-bait and it’s too hacky. Once he arrives in BH, the rhythm changes for the better. 4) [so-called] “Good cops” can ABSOLUTELY have strained relationships with their kids. That’s VERY realistic.

My favorite is Beverly Hills Cop 2. A lot of action & story. It moved at a great pace. This movie felt slow. Axel & his daughter didn’t feel like there was real tension between them, so that storyline felt very weak.

I was pleasantly surprised by Axel F. I really enjoyed the action, characters, and gags. Besides the look of this Netflix production I think it's on par with the previous films. The Beverly Hill Cop franchise were never all that great. They were your basic over the top, by the numbers, action comedy movies. A character I do miss is inspector Todd played by the late Gilbert Hill. His character gave Beverly Hills Cop a little realism dramatic wise.

Im a fan of the franchise and I got giddy seeing them play off each other again. I didnt watch it expecting to be anything other than a Netflix movie and I was pleasantly surprised. I also enjoyed the Mark Whalberg family hitman movie too, Family Plan.

Good review, Adam. Yep, digital cameras still suck and give movies a generic look. Also, this need to constantly do slow zooms during every damn scene is beyond annoying and makes me want to fall asleep.

Lol! That's how I felt about it. "It's ok." I fell asleep on it.

Nostalgia is still good to me. Not an excellent movie but still enjoyed it. Part 2 will always be the best imo.

The 2nd act dragged like crazy with the daughter hates daddy story, which was dumb, and i just found myself waiting for the movie to end

I agree, it's okay. I also find it insulting that people are ranking this new movie anywhere ahead of Part 1 and 2.

It was bad. Everyone was too old for being a cop on a beat. And Eddy is still wearing that letterman’s. Sorry but that is over board for the nostalgia. We made is 25 minutes.

You are completely right. I had almost the exact same response to this film, and I couldn't put my finger on what some of my issues were but you managed to express alot of what I took away from it especially how the movie looked. It had that clean digital sheen to it that just made everything look so un cinematic. The hustle and bustle of buildings, clubs, police precincts etc were hugely lacking, I didn't feel that this was an inhabited world, it all felt very staged and minimal. I didn't like how they portrayed Taggart in this, I found the dialogue and the story weak. I was bored by the relationship between axel and his daughter. I don't think family issues fits the tone set by the previous three movies. I barely laughed at any of the jokes. The whole thing was weak to me and it's a shame that Eddie has now appeared in two awful sequels back to back, with this and coming 2 America. It just shows how it's best to leave these things in the past.

If I see one more movie with the Daughter or son who hates Daddy because he was a lousy father routine I’m going to puke . This Hollywood Formula was used in the Wrestler, the Whale, 2 Die Hards and again in the Awful Beverly Hills Cop Movie. Please No More.

I feel like it's Axel F and not 4 because it's not technically the same IP somehow. Like if you listen close the music is a weird ripoff

I thought this movie was hilarious I loved it. This sequel was super funny. I really enjoyed this movie. I have movie night every Saturday night with my mom and we loved it. We had a lot of good laughs. I picked the other 3 when my turn and this one was good I have 3 in one set. I like this movie better than the third one. But still the first one is always the best.This movie , I thought was pretty funny though.

I thought it was rather boring, took me a couple of attempts to Finnish. Felt a bit too light hearted for me. BHC 1 was quite gritty as well as funny. Like you said it was ok!

Guilty of the worst Comedy Crime of all - it's BORING !!!

1:21 - 2:12, yeah agree with you 100% here Adam, the original trilogy was also shot in 4k (native 4k) so it's not so much a question of resolution as much as the texture of 35mm just looking far more expensive / glossy and cinematic than the actors-doing-cosplay look of digital that Netflix mandate for all of their productions. It's the same problem that Furiosa, Quiet Place Day One and Horizon have had compared to the Road Warrior, Quiet Place 2 and Open Range and it makes you appreciate how Jeff Nichols, Nolan, Shyamalan, Guadagnino, PTA and Eggers are still making the effort to continue shooting with it right now, even if it's more expensive and adds further shooting days to the schedule. So far I've seen Nicols's The Bikeriders and Guagagnino's Challengers this year and although I had a few issues with some story elements of each, at least visually it was a return to the level of quality you're talking about.

i read that eddie murphy dosent do his iconic laughter at all in the movie. why not? thats axel foleys identity.

this is mostly getting positive reviews and I don’t get it. I thought it was terrible. the daughter was so boring, she should have been kidnapped till the end instead. Cause Billy and Taggart are pushed aside. they play the OG music over and over, for nostalgia reasons.. hell in the first 10 minutes we get 3 songs. Villain is predictable. A shooter McGavin cameo?! Eddie didn’t seem like his old self. I like part 3, don’t get the hate for it. Why did we need Serge to come back? If he hadn’t returned for 3 then they probably wouldn’t have got him back for this. The violence is all CGI bullet hits, no squibs. Action was nothing new. I wanted to love this, but left disappointed.

I miss when movies used real fires and explosions

I really enjoyed Top Gun Maverick and I was glad it made money but the one bad thing is that Hollywood does follow the money and will try to do that Top Gun Maverick thing for every older franchise. I pretty much share the same feeling for this movie, and I think it's the weakest movie in the franchise. I still think Eddie in his 60s nailed it but the story and the BS with the daughter was so weak. It's a decent watch but the comedy is very safe and don't expect that 80s edge.

I thought it wasn't a very good movie. But I gotta say, I liked it lol. I found myself actually laughing quite a bit. Still, a pretty lazy entry that would've been much better had they ditched the daughter plot and let the boys play together. Billy and Taggart were hardly even in it.

I agree with Adams's comment on the Netflix/streaming effect. We have McMovies now...and Netflix might be the worst offender. This is the downside of the assembly-line production approach that streaming demands. I guess we have to take the bad with the good!

It's called Axel F because they want to avoid mentioning BHC III is part of the franchise. And that's understandable. Not calling it BHC IV was the only way to do that.

first honest review! thank you.

Axel F was WAAAAAAYY better than BHC III! Axel was a shell of himself in that one. In Axel F, he's back to using his best skills. Plus, the score was better & the lighting in BHC III was off-putting.

So this is where negativity comes to die?

This could have been good but it was only barely passable and mediocre IMO. It was packed with way too many characters and a barely coherent plot. I mean, I don't really care about the plot so much in these movies but still. Axel, Rosewood and Taggart barely had any screen time together until the very end. Their chemistry and camaraderie is the heart and soul of these movies...at least the first two great ones. I love the first 2 films and they are my default movies to throw on when I want to re-watch something fun and nothing else is on. Eddie Murphy hasn't really been funny since the 1980's. He just seems to be an empty shell of his former self and takes himself way too seriously. The 48 Hours, BH Cop, Trading Places and Coming to America Eddie is long gone. This was less of a buddy cop film and more of a Daddy/Daughter duo film. His daughter had way too much screen time and making all of our male heroes from the 1980's basically aging deadbeat dads is something Hollywood writers seem to enjoy doing these days. Well at least the music was pretty good.

Even if I liked Axel F a little more than you Adam, I have to say Kudos. 👍🏼You´re perhaps the only one on YT who talks about my biggest negative point as well. The look of the movie itself. Of course it´s sharp and has nice color reproduction, but the digital flair gives even the practical stuff (like you said) something artificial. Hard to describe. Just look at the directors Adil and Bilall and the Cinematography by Robrecht Heyvaert. They managed to give us the (nearly identical) Michael Bay look from the first two Bad Boys movies. Just that alone did go a long way for me in liking the sequels Ride or Die for Life. 😁With Axel F of course the saying from Predator kept coming up: "You ug.. Mo..!"

I’m so excited for this review! a new movie review by Adam, way to make my Sunday bro!!!❤❤

Was good , could have been better , (number one complaint is that Eddie didn’t bring the LAUGH back)…I know Eddie taught self not to laugh the way he used to. But it was also a very big part of AXELS personality! And I personally think that Eddie should have threw a couple in and would have seemed more like AXEL. That was a huge missed opportunity. If Eddie Murphy laughed his iconic 80s laugh for this movie it would have been HUGE. Even if he doesn’t naturally laugh that way anymore, he is a good enough actor that I have no doubt he could if he wanted to. ….oh and the scene with his daughter in the car with bad guys looked ridiculously fake…. But other than that,I was surprised that they did do a lot of things right too. It wasn’t a complete failure, but if they do get a part 5 maybe they will take notes and make just a little better🙂.

Thanks Adam for properly setting my expectations here, now I can watch and hopefully be mildly entertained.

I thought it relied too much on the callbacks. That was my main issue, but i still had a fun time. 7/10.

JGL being the main villain would have have been a great twist

It was Good compared to all the SHIT these days...

I’m not a religious man but I do thank God every night that he gave us Bob Gale and Bob Zemeckis. The reason is because incredibly nobody has gotten them to sign off on any anymore Back to the future movies. You just know there’s somebody at Universal Studios that goes to bed every night screaming because of the billions of dollars they are losing because of no BTTF sequels, haha.

Axel F and Eddie Murphy should retire imo..

Yeah I had this thought when cameras first started to improve. I first noticed it when I was watching foreign shows and I was like why does everything look so weird there was something off and I couldn’t figure it. And it everything you said there was no film grain everything looked too polished to clear too perfect and life doesn’t look like. Stuff Is dirty life is messy things aren’t perfect and stuff is too perfect too convienant too polished and it seems unauthentic and takes you out of being sucked into the films story and world. Movie companies don’t make movies too be good. The only reason they make movies is to have the contents IP and keep it under their umbrella so they can have as much comtent as possible. Likes that’s why they only buy half a script and then tell the show runner to figure out on the fly and they release whatever bullshit they fart out because making a good film wasn’t on their priority list. Just making a film period so they can keep the intellectual property was. Cause they already have your money from the subscription fee them making this film while ensure all the only ones will stay with them and this was almost a 2 hour commercial disguised as a movie because it just lets you know where to watch the og films and this movie kind of being shut will make you want to rewatch the original.any movie they get from theaters are just a bonus

I actually enjoyed the movie. It was fun. So much better than most what Hollywood been putting out lately.

YOU'RE PRETTY FUNNY. You got me. SUBSCRIBED

I said the same thing it looks like a TV show , forced lame jokes boring action , boring boring boring I watched 10 minutes and turned it

@9:18 as Jeremy from Sins would say, "what my girlfriend said to me in college makes it into the script." Lol

Spot-on review. I'm a bit of an outcast among my friends for calling this a "BHC Greatest Hits", because I guess their standards were set even lower than mine. While I appreciate that Murphy still plays Axel F like Axel F, and not some washed-up, bitter old adventurer, and it's perfectly 'watchable', it's very much a limp retread of the original movies, with plot points haphazardly lifted from 1 & 2 and assembled here like a Frankenstein. And while I love the original hit songs...I love them in their original movies, not (for example) having Shakedown slapped on top of a new, far less-interesting chase scene. These should've been NEW songs commissioned with the same type of energy and feel. And you're also correct about how some scenes fall so flat. For example, I kept wondering if Eddie and the actress who plays his daughter were maybe actually filming their scene in her convertible in a real car on the road. I'm watching it in 4k and Dilby Atmos, but it sounds like they're in a tiny room on a soundstage, even though the image looks very impressive, as if you're 'there'. Very weird, lackluster cinematography for the most of this movie. A "Greatest Hits", indeed. Unnecessary, because you've got all the previous 'albums'. --But wait: There's an 'extra unreleased track' that you 'have' to buy it for. 😅

How do you judge the integrity of 3 based on one car chase? As a whole, I believe 4 is better. Add to that, the cameras are digital, but they captured the color temperature of 1 and 2 much better than 3. Damn, gotta edit. They cut songs to make them fit in 2 as well. "Shakedown" is chopped to fit the gun spin.

Your awesome mannnn. Love your channel keep up the great work man

I love it. Everyone else saying otherwise is too jaded by today’s CGI films.

Coming to America 6 promises to deliver

I enjoyed it, probably because I went in with such low expectations having reminded myself of "coming to America 2".

Oh yeah! Axel F. is a mediocre movie that fails to live up to the hype. It's an average, uninspiring film that concentrates more on nostalgia than a compelling story. The plot is by-the-numbers, offering nothing new or exciting to the franchise. This movie is a disappointment for fans who were hoping for a fresh, engaging take on the classic character. Overall, it's a forgettable entry that doesn't justify its existence.

Agreed. Good point about ceryain franchises being a "young man's game". I actually wonder if studios will (should?) make de-aged images of the actors whenever they want to add to an iconic franchise.

Still not as bad as coming 2 American.

$235 dollars a night for a room in the original Beverly Hills Cop, that's pretty cheap...for Beverly Hills. 😂🤣

this might be the most nostalgic-cash-grab-after-the-series-has-long-since-been-over that i have ever seen, with indiana jones a close second

The bar on movies is probably the lowest it has ever been. Too many simps and snowflakes out there to say anything negative.

true about Ambience thats more Netflix way of editing no idea why but ur capping to say BHC3 is good lol. Axel F is more like 1 and 2

I enjoyed this a little more than Beverly Hills Cop III, but the first 2 are still the best by far.

That movie was good and funny. What happen is so many people are into sci fi special efx stuff. That they forgot what a movie really is. If it is Superheroes or Vampire its not good Gthooh. I liked it it was made for Gen X.

Movies really degraded in look,dialogue,acting,originality

This is the first negative review I have seen ? I hope this helps your channel. This movie was great for a Netflix movie. Eddie Murphy was excellent, and he looks 40, not 63 . This movie is designed for TV, not a movie theater.

1:40 💯❗️ I wholeheartedly agree. There's no shadows anymore. There is no life to it anymore. This is what Tarantino is talking about. And Christopher Nolan.

Yeah, as a movie it was a load of crap. But I loved it for the nostalgia.

Lol the rendition u did at the end. Absolutely going to be my ringtone

Agreed, the third Beverly Hills Cop is underrated. I was surprised you didn't like the new one more, it had its moments, especially the helicopter scene was a good action set piece.

It made good background noise for programming but i didn't really watch it.

If streaming services played ttailers in betwern episodes for current snd up and coming shows that are on netflix and coming to netflix.. it would then be ok.

You are kind . This version was absolute trash. Was he contractually obligated ?

Yup 👍 it’s okay, but this should have been a theatrical release instead of made by shitty Netflix

This movie exists?

We need to keep some realism. The original films aren't exactly brilliant. Eddie Murphy plays a coked up guy just when cocaine was all the rage. Don't get me wrong I love the films watched one and two many times at the cinemas has a teenager. But they are pretty dated and to be frank boring now. I don't believe in false reverence. I've not seen the new movie but I don't mind the concept at all. Certain films don't really age well. The early aliens films yes Beverly hills cop series not so much. In my view.

This guy has the perfect face and voice for talking about movies 😆

Where is the Pale Blue Eye review since you're reviewing all this Netflix crap lately!!!!!

Isnt it 72 now before one can retire? I say lets make another 3 movies with eddie. I kinda liked it, but too many cameos

7:31 Happy Gilmore's Bad Guy..... But, why? 😂

I thought the movie was good if you didn’t like it I get it. Let’s stop talking like each of our own opinions is gospel and agree that other people can just feel different

It is pretty good to me. I enjoyed it a helluva lot better than part 3.

I don't know what's more annoying, your review or Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

Murphy is a has been who hasn't put anything good on the screen in over 25 years!