Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a 2024 American action comedy film directed by Mark Molloy and written by Will Beall, Tom Gormican, and Kevin Etten from a story by Beall. Serving as the fourth installment in the Beverly Hills Cop film series and a sequel to Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), Eddie Murphy (who also produces) reprises his role as Axel Foley, with Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, and Bronson Pinchot reprising their roles from previous films in the franchise, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Paige, and Kevin Bacon star in new roles.
Axel Foley has returned to Beverly Hills after his daughter Jane and his old partner Billy Rosewood's lives are threatened. She and Axel team up with her ex-boyfriend Bobby Abbott and his old pals, John Taggart and Serge, to uncover a conspiracy.
The film entered development in the mid-1990s, under Murphy's production company. Various directors and screenwriters were attached over the years, including the filmmaking duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, but the project had faced multiple issues and has undergone development hell. In April 2022, Molloy was hired to direct, with production beginning in California that August. It is also the first film in the series not to be distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F was released on the streaming service Netflix on July 3, 2024.
== Plot ==
Axel Foley remains a Detroit police detective under the supervision of his friend, Deputy Chief Jeffrey Friedman. In pursuit of a group of thieves looting the Detroit Red Wings' locker room during a game, Axel's ensuing chase causes costly damage to the city. Jeffrey retires to protect Axel from being punished and encourages Axel to reconnect with his estranged daughter Jane Saunders, a defense attorney in LA. Billy Rosewood, working as a private investigator after having had a falling out with John Taggart, also calls Axel, warning him Jane's life is in danger. He has been aiding Jane as she represents Enriquez — framed for the murder of undercover officer Copeland. After the call, Rosewood recovers evidence from the vehicle in which the murder took place, but is kidnapped by the cartel.
Axel returns to Beverly Hills, concerned when Rosewood does not respond. In Rosewood's office, Axel finds a suspicious team searching for something. Axel removes a page out of Rosewood's personal organizer, then is chased by the group through Rodeo Drive and is arrested. Taken to the Beverly Hills Police Department, Axel is met by Detective Bobby Abbott, Jane's ex-boyfriend, and reunites with Taggart, who is now police chief. Taggart introduces Axel to Captain Cade Grant, whom he mentored as a young police cadet. Upon meeting Grant, Axel distrusts him as he is wearing excessively expensive items for a police salary. Jane bails out her father, but resists his attempts to reconnect with her. It is revealed that, during an investigation of the Detroit mafia, Axel and his family were threatened. Jane and her mother moved to Los Angeles decades ago, but Axel stayed in Detroit and the couple divorced. They are ambushed on Wilshire Boulevard but saved by Abbott in a shootout. Axel questions Taggart about his leadership and Axel's suspicions about Grant; Taggart vehemently defends Grant and his team, shuts out Axel, and suspends Abbott.
The three recover a camera from the car where Copeland was murdered and deduce Grant's team were looking for an SD card containing evidence. The address Axel found in Rosewood's organizer proves to be a mansion owned by Grant and used as a cartel money laundering operation. Axel enlists his friend Serge's help to gain access to the mansion by posing as potential buyers of the property next door. Axel finds more evidence that links to Copeland's murder. Grant is notified of their presence by surveillance. After arguing with Jane, Axel and Abbott seek help from Enriquez's uncle, Chalino, head of the cartel. He tells them that Grant helps protect the cartel, and reveals a drug shipment is leaving the port that night. Abbott and Axel are framed and arrested for drug possession by Grant. Axel escapes custody and steals a helicopter with a reluctant Abbott's aid. They fly to the Beverly Hills Police Station, where Grant shoots the rotor, causing them to crash. Taggart witnesses the incident and is convinced of the corruption within his own team. He agrees to assist Jane with the pending investigation, but she is later kidnapped by Grant's thugs. Axel and Abbott go to the port where the cartel is operating. They find Rosewood being held there; they free him and are heading to retrieve the SD card Rosewood hid when Grant calls to announce he is holding Jane. With Jeffrey's aid, the trio triangulate her location at the cartel mansion.
Axel, Rosewood, Abbott and Taggart engage in a firefight against Grant's cartel army. During the fight, Jane escapes captivity. Axel and Grant face off; Axel is shot while protecting Jane, and Grant is shot in the head by Abbott. In the aftermath, Rosewood and Taggart make peace. With the recovered evidence, the charges against Enriquez are dropped, and during his hospitalization Axel makes amends with Jane. A few days later, Axel reunites with both Rosewood and Taggart, who were on stakeout to ensure Axel completes his hospitalization; Axel successfully persuades the two to join him out for dinner.
== Cast ==
== Music ==
As the film reuses most of the music from the first two films, a compilation soundtrack was not commissioned, making it the first in the franchise to not have an album featuring the songs heard in the film unlike its predecessors. However, an original song "Here We Go!" was written for the film, by rapper-singer Lil Nas X and released as a single on June 28, 2024.
Lorne Balfe composed the film's score, which incorporates the "Axel F" theme composed by Harold Faltermeyer from the first film. An album containing the film's score was released through Netflix Music on July 3, 2024.
== Release ==
The film was released on the streaming service Netflix on July 3, 2024. To promote the release of the film, a promo featuring the animated character Crazy Frog was released. Crazy Frog previously released a cover of the franchise's theme song, "Axel F", in 2005.
== Reception ==
===Audience viewership===
After premiering on July 3 on Netflix, the film earned 41 million views in five days. It also had 80.7 million hours viewed. During its second week, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F remained the most watched film on Netflix, scoring 22.2 million views and 43.7 million hours viewers.
===Critical response===
Brian Tallerico, writing for RogerEbert.com, gave the film three out of four stars, stating that the film is "a shockingly entertaining diversion.... From the beginning, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is buoyant and playful in a way that legacy sequels usually aren't allowed to be, and that was arguably missing in the more leaden second and third films in this series."
Robert Daniels of The New York Times wrote, "While this installment isn't nearly as woeful as Beverly Hills Cop III, it doesn't have the charm or energy of the first two films either. It's a limp, desperate action comedy with few memorable moments."
===Accolades===
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F received nominations for Location Manager of the Year – Studio Feature and Location Team of the Year – Studio Feature at the 2023 California On Location Awards.
== Future ==
On June 21, 2024, Eddie Murphy and Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that a fifth Beverly Hills Cop film was already in development.
== External links ==
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== References ==