After 30 years, actor/comedian Eddie Murphy is reprising his most famous role — Detective Axel Foley of the Detroit Police Department — in “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” debuting Wednesday on Netflix.
A street-smart, wisecracking plainclothes detective, Foley tends to rub people the wrong way. In 1984’s “Beverly Hills Cop” — the original entry in the franchise that catapulted Murphy to international stardom — Foley goes to Beverly Hills, California, to solve the murder of his friend, where he’s out of his jurisdiction, out of his element — and runs afoul of the Beverly Hills Police Dept., including Capt. Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox, 1990’s “Total Recall”), Sgt. John Taggart (John Ashton, 1988’s “Midnight Run”), and Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold, 1986’s “Ruthless People”). Despite their disparate methods, they come to respect each other and become friends.
The original “Cop” grossed $234 million on a $13 million budget and was 1984’s highest-grossing film. Inevitably, “Beverly Hills Cop II” followed in 1987. Despite mixed reviews, it was a box office hit, grossing nearly $300 million on a $27 million budget.
“We have good memories of these films — they take us back to a place — and those characters are such a part of that memory,” said “Axel F” director Mark Molloy, making his feature directorial debut. “First, I had to pinch myself that I was getting to work with (Murphy). He is such an icon. I’ve been a fan from (‘Cop’) to ‘Saturday Night Live’ to all of his standup. He’s just been such a figure in my life. Coming to work together was really incredible. Eddie’s often lauded for his comedy, but he has amazing range. We’ve got some really emotional scenes and the way he handled those scenes, it really blew me away.”
In 1994, “Beverly Hills Cop III” was released. This was the weakest film in the franchise, which was nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards: The first for Worst Remake or Sequel, the second for Worst Director for John Landis (Murphy’s collaborator on 1983’s “Trading Places” and 1988’s “Coming to America”). Not only did critics slam it, but so did Murphy himself. In interviews over the years, Murphy called the third movie “horrible.”
Many false starts occurred when attempting to make a fourth movie for more than 20-25 years. In 2013, a spinoff TV series was announced and a pilot was filmed with Detroit native Brandon T. Jackson (2008’s “Tropic Thunder”) as Axel’s son, Aaron, with Murphy serving as producer and slated to make guest appearances. The pilot was not picked up for series, but it can be seen on YouTube.
In “Axel F,” Foley returns to Beverly Hills after learning his daughter Jane (Taylour Paige, 2020’s “Zola”), a criminal defense attorney, is in grave danger. Foley recruits Taggart (his first appearance since “Beverly Hills Cop II”) and Rosewood (who’s appeared in all four movies) and they uncover a criminal conspiracy.
“(Murphy) still had such a clear vision for Axel all these years later,” Molloy said. “He walked up and was just dialed in. He knew Axel, even Axel at this point in his life. He told me he’s his most important character. It’s clear he really cares about Axel.”
Also, returning are “Mad About You” alumnus Paul Reiser (who appeared in the first two movies as Foley’s partner Jeffrey Friedman, now Foley’s superior in the DPD) and “Perfect Strangers” alumnus Bronson Pinchot as Serge, who appeared in the first and third films. Joining the veterans are Kevin Bacon (1984’s “Footloose”) as Capt. Cade Grant and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (2010’s “Inception) as Detective Bobby Abbott, both of the BHPD.
Gil Hill — who was a true member of the DPD and later became president of the Detroit City Council and ran in the 2001 Detroit mayoral election but lost to Kwame Kilpatrick — played Foley’s foul-mouthed, fiery-tempered, no-nonsense superior Insp. Douglas Todd in the first three movies. Todd was killed off in the third movie (Hill’s final film). Hill died in 2016. He was 84.
Detroit native Jerry Bruckheimer (“Top Gun”) produced the first two “Cop” movies. Alongside Murphy, he serves as a producer on “Axel F.”
“(Murphy’s) unique and has a really interesting take on the world around us and creates comedy in whatever situation he steps into. He finds the comedic bent, the ridiculousness,” Bruckheimer said. “He’s also a wonderful dramatic actor and fuses the two even more in this movie because he’s on a quest to help his daughter. It’s an emotional story. The reason that our movies work when they do work is because of the emotion. We understand how to get action. We’ve done that over and over again through my career, but it’s always about the emotion. The fact that this is emotional and comedic and has terrific action is something I think is going to work for an audience.”
Wayne State University film professor Steve Shaviro agreed with Bruckheimer.
“It works as well as it does because of Murphy’s charisma and ability to do so many things and mix them at the spur of the moment. He can be tough, he can be an out-of-control antihero, he can be funny — all at the same time,” Shaviro said. “He gives a different spin to the cop who’s always pushing things and crossing the line, but is a good guy nonetheless. At one point, Sylvester Stallone (‘Rocky’) was being considered as the lead for the first movie. No disrespect to Sly, who’s a great action hero, but one cannot imagine him giving the sort of multi-dimensional performance Murphy does.”
Molloy wanted “Axel F” to harken back to the original “Cop” and 1980s action movies.
“I also wanted to make a film that is very modern and contemporary, but embraces nostalgia, not just for the films but of that era of movies. When you look back at them, those movies were really quite grounded and honest and a bit gritty, and I wanted to make a film like that about brilliant, larger-than-life characters,” he said. “I wanted to shoot all the action in camera, not CGI. I wanted there to be a real sense of danger. I was also excited to show a different side of Axel that audiences had never seen before. Who is he now, all these years later as a cop, as a father, as an agitator? And working with Jerry has been an absolute dream. This is my first film. To be handed the keys to not just such an iconic franchise, but such a big film is very humbling… He’s had my back and trusted in my vision the whole time.”
In turn, Bruckheimer praised Molloy.
“We are always looking for somebody who has a unique perspective and vision,” Bruckheimer said. “(Molloy) can capture the edge of the villain and also capture the comedy. He gets the emotion. And he has a visual style, which is very important to us. Why do you think audiences are ready to come back to (‘Cop’)? They love Eddie. He’s such a unique talent. You just want to watch him on that screen.”
