A freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.
Before “Beverly Hills Cop” made Eddie Murphy a bona fide movie star, he appeared in three films in which he played second fiddle to an A-list actor: Nick Nolte in “48 Hrs.” (1982), Dan Aykroyd in “Trading Places” (1983), and Dudley Moore in “Best Defense” (1984). While “Beverly Hills Cop” was written with Sylvester Stallone in mind, he even signed on to appear in the movie, at the last minute, negotiations fell through and the producers and director Martin Brest went with their original choice, newcomer Eddie Murphy, and the rest, as they say, is history. It’s hard to imagine anybody else in the film now but Murphy’s iconic laugh and quick-witted wisecracks elevated his career into the stratosphere where he remained for many years.
In “Beverly Hills Cop,” Murphy plays Detroit detective Axel Foley. When an old friend, Mikey Tandino (James Russo), visits him after getting out of prison, the two men go out for drinks but when they arrive back at Foley’s apartment later that evening, Foley is knocked unconscious and Mikey is shot dead. When Foley insists on being a part of the case, his superior officer, Inspector Todd (Gilbert R. Hill), denies his request because of his close ties with Mikey. Foley then asks for some vacation time he is due and Todd agrees. Foley makes his way out to Beverly Hills to follow up on a lead Mikey gave to him, a man named Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff) he worked for doing security at his warehouse. Foley discovers that Mikey stole some bearer bonds from Maitland and although he has no evidence, he tries to shake Maitland down at his place of business but is thrown out a window and is then arrested.
Later, he is introduced to Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Sgt. Taggart (John Ashton), and Lt. Bogomil (Ronny Cox) of the Los Angeles Police Department. Things get off to a rocky start between Foley and the three men who claim they do everything by the book in Beverly Hills but as Foley’s instincts continue to get the better of him, it becomes more and more obvious that something shady is going on with Maitland and all four men end up at his mansion embroiled in a shoot-out to the death.
Of the three Beverly Hills Cop movies to date (there is a fourth in the works), the first is still the best. Director Martin Brest doesn’t infuse the movie every five minutes with unnecessary action scenes just because he can, something the ’80s were renowned for, instead, he allows us to get to know Axel and the rest of the terrific supporting cast first, and when the action does arrive, it is done so not just for the sake of spectacle but to also help the narrative move along. The comradery between Murphy, Reinhold, Ashton, and Cox is undeniable and this proved just as indisputable in “Beverly Hills Cop II.” By the time we got to part 3 though, Ashton and Cox chose not to reprise their roles and the movie suffered as a result.
Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills to help Taggart and Rosewood investigate Chief Bogomil’s near-fatal shooting and the series of “alphabet crimes” associated with it.
Tony Scott directed “Beverly Hills Cop II” after directing Tom Cruise in the worldwide smash “Top Gun,” which sent Cruise’s career into the stratosphere where it has pretty much stayed and he brought the same level of excitement and emotion to Axel Foley’s return to Beverly Hills. The action ante was upped as was the humor and the interplay between our four central protagonists is still on full display, if not more so. The ’80s go-to-bad-guy Jürgen Prochnow plays, you guessed it, the film’s villain as does Brigitte Nielsen, the Danish 6′ 1″ blonde who made a name for herself starring in “Red Sonja” alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone (they would marry for two years) in “Rocky IV” and “Cobra.”
As the movie opens, Lt. Bogomil (Ronny Cox) stumbles onto something illegal but before he has a chance to bring it to light, he is shot and left for dead. When Axel receives word back in Detroit of the shooting he quickly makes his way back out to Beverly Hills. The political state of the Los Angeles Police Department has changed drastically as there is a new police chief, Harold Lutz (Allen Garfield), a man who is verbally abusive to almost everyone around him, and when he discovers Foley with Rosewood and Taggart, Foley disguises himself as an undercover FBI agent to thwart any suspicion. A series of high-end-store robberies have recently gotten the attention of the public and the police and as Foley, Rosewood, and Taggart dig deeper into Bogomil’s shooting, they find a connection to local wealthy businessman Maxwell Dent (Jürgen Prochnow), a man who they discover is in debt and owes a lot of people a lot of money.
They receive word that a big robbery is about to go down at one of the racetracks Dent owns but they arrive too late. While investigating the crime scene, Foley discovers red mud on the bottom of one of the dead henchman’s shoes, the same red mud that he discovered on the sole of Bogomil’s running shoes earlier. A local informs them that it came from Dent’s oil field on the other side of town. They race to the location and discover Dent making an arms deal with terrorists and open fire, killing Dent and his crew in the process.
“Beverly Hills Cop II” is much more frenzied than the straightforward and intimate narrative of the first film. With “Beverly Hills Cop,” we were being introduced to a slew of new characters and much of the fun was watching them interact with each other and discovering their character traits and idiosyncrasies but with Part 2, we already know the central protagonists and what makes them tick so some of the fun is lost there. Mr. Prochnow plays a good villain and Ms. Nielsen plays his chief enforcer with relish but sadly, they have nothing much to do except look enraged and pissed off when called for. Director Tony Scott was just starting out with his action career here so many of his visual trademarks, such as his frenetic camera style and excessive editing, were still in the very early stages but it’s clear that “Beverly Hills Cop II” paved the way to his movies that would incorporate these trademarks.
Axel Foley, while investigating a car theft ring, comes across something much bigger than that: the same men who killed his boss are running a counterfeit money ring out of a theme park in Los Angeles.
After a seven-year hiatus, Axel Foley returned to the big screen in 1994’s “Beverly Hills Cop III” but it would have been better if he had never returned as this entry in the series was tired, fatigued, and, basically, garbage. Murphy himself later stated that the movie was “atrocious” and that he was very unhappy while shooting it. His last few movies, “The Distinguished Gentleman,” “Boomerang,” “Another 48 Hrs.,” and “Harlem Nights,” had all flopped at the box office so his taking a stab at a third entry in the series made sense in the hopes that it would revive his career. Alas, it did not. And working again with director John Landis, whom he had worked with before on “Trading Places” and “Coming to America,” didn’t make things any easier as Landis’ penchant for comedy and humor annoyed Murphy who claimed that Foley was now a mature detective and not the wisecracking newbie from the first film.
When Foley’s boss, Inspector Douglas Todd (Gilbert R. Hill), is shot and killed in a raid on a chop shop in Detroit, Foley gives chase to the man responsible, Ellis De Wald (Timothy Carhart), but just as he is about to catch him in his truck, he is interrupted by Secret Service Agent Steve Fulbright (Stephen McHattie) who informs him that the FBI has been secretly trying to penetrate De Wald’s organization for a long time and that he is to stop investigating him. Foley reluctantly agrees and leaves but having memorized the truck’s license plate, he later discovers that it wound up at a pier in Los Angeles. Foley makes his way back out to Beverly Hills where Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) has been promoted to Detective Sergeant and Taggart (John Ashton) has retired to Phoenix in Arizona. When Foley explains the situation to Rosewood and that they found two towels at the chop shop that belong to a theme park called Wonder World, Rosewood tells him that Wonder World is not too far away. Rosewood’s partner, Detective Jon Flint (Hector Elizondo), agrees to meet him out there and Foley goes on ahead.
After making his way inside, he manages to discover a hidden entrance where security can enter and exit without the general public observing them but once inside, he is shot at by security forces. He manages to escape where he then rescues two children from a malfunctioning ride. Afterward, he is apprehended by park security and brought into their control room where he meets Orrin Sanderson (John Saxon), the park manager. When Detective Flint appears, Sanderson states that they won’t press charges but when De Wald shows his face, Foley tries to attack him as he recognizes him as his boss’ killer. Nobody believes Foley, as De Wald is a humanitarian and his secret police force helps the Los Angeles Police Department whenever they can. Foley leaves and tries to explain to Rosewood and Flint that De Wald is the killer but they have a hard time believing him because he has such an impeccable reputation.
When a man named Uncle Dave (Alan Young), the owner of Wonder World, much like Walt Disney, visits Foley, he explains that a week earlier, the park’s designer and Dave’s close friend, Roger Fry, mysteriously disappeared and hasn’t been seen since, leaving a cryptic message behind. Dave informs Foley that under De Wald’s protection, strange things have been going on at the park and that one area of the park is closed off to everyone except De Wald’s men, including Dave. Foley sneaks in at night and ascertains that De Wald is printing counterfeit money but when he brings Rosewood and Flint back with him, the money has been changed to Wonder Park currency. The men leave, frustrated at Foley’s apparent lack of evidence but when he meets with Uncle Dave later to tell him what he discovered, De Wald appears and shoots Dave with Foley’s gun, framing him. Foley escapes and makes his way back to the park where he plans on proving his innocence and with Rosewood and Flint’s help, they enter the park, guns blazing!
“Beverly Hills Cop III” is downright lazy, spiritless, and unimaginative. Not one action scene in the movie is exciting. Everything, from the plot to the acting to the action and the humor, is uninspiring. For a combination of Eddie Murphy and John Landis, that’s pretty disappointing as their previous two outings, “Coming to America” and “Trading Places,” were hilarious. Both John Ashton and Ronny Cox refused to appear in the movie as the script was so bad and I can’t blame them. A few years earlier, when Murphy was one of the biggest names in Hollywood, he stated that the only way he would return to the role of Axel Foley is if the script was fresh and creative and Paramount was willing to pay him a big lump of money. I guess the money won out. Don’t waste your time with this one, you’d have more excitement organizing your sock drawer.
Now available on Digital in 4K Ultra HD and on a 3-Movie Blu-ray Collection January 14th
