Forty years later, Eddie Murphy has returned to the “Beverly Hills Cop” saga that helped catapult him to stardom — but critics aren’t entirely convinced the fourth installment is a worthy endeavor.
“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” hit Netflix Wednesday, and while it currently holds the top spot on the streamer’s movies in the U.S., reviews imply the flick is merely a cash-grab retreading old ground.
According to the critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, the film “coasts on nostalgia,” though it does mark “a welcome return for [Murphy’s] Axel Foley.”
CNN accepted the film as “breezy escapism,” while Rolling Stone and ABC News agreed its jokes were “exhausted” and “retirement ready.”
Meanwhile, the Observer called out “risk-averse” Netflix for “using existing IP to hedge their bets on their investment.”
Even positive reviews from IndieWire and AV Club only scored the movie a C+, while The New York Times dismissed it as “a painfully lackluster retread desperately trying to justify its own existence.”
The first “Beverly Hills Cop,” which hit theaters in 1984 and grossed nearly $235 million stateside, holds an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But the followup films have fared much worse from a critical perspective.
“Beverly Hills Cop II” arrived in 1987 and currently has a measly 48% rating, while 1994’s “Beverly Hills Cop III” holds a dismal 11% approval.
But compared with those ratings, the latest flick is far better, with a 65% approval rating and 78% audience score as of Thursday evening.
Murphy announced the fourth “Beverly Hills Cop” in 2019.
“That’s what we’re doing after [2021’s] ‘Coming to America 2,’” he told Collider at the time. “We’re doing ‘Beverly Hills Cop,’ and then the plan is to get back on stage and do standup.”
Alongside Murphy, the latest installment stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Taylour Paige, and marks the return of franchise stars Judge Reinhold and Paul Reiser.