Looking at the review scores for some of Netflix’s latest original movies, you might suspect that the streamer has lost its way. In the last two months alone, Netflix has released Unfrosted (42% on Rotten Tomatoes), Atlas (18%), Trigger Warning (20%), and A Family Affair (41%). With that in mind, Netflix is probably breathing a sigh of relief at the critical response to Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which made its streaming debut on Wednesday.
Reviving a dormant franchise is always risky, especially when the last movie came out 30 years ago. Not only that, but Beverly Hills Cop 3 was reviled by critics and made way less money than the first two entries. There was really nowhere to go but up.
At the time of writing, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F has a 66% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is higher than all but the original movie. Here are some quotes from the positive reviews floating around online, most of which praise Murphy’s performance in particular:
- “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is exactly the kind of entertaining summer blockbuster that we need more of.” – Nate Richard, Collider
- “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is anything but stale or overloaded. The film is, instead, just as much fun as you’d hope and lighter on its feet than it should be.” – Alex Welch, Digital Trends
- “The action set pieces look expensive and are the heavy-duty glue that holds the movie together.” – Ferdosa Abdi, Screen Rant
- “His manic energy as a comic may have dimmed in the intervening decades, but there’s no refusing the genial appeal that remains to Eddie Murphy, Movie Star.” – Jarrod Jones, The A.V. Club
As long as you don’t go in expecting The Next Great Buddy Cop Comedy, Beverly Hills Cop 4 will be enough to keep you entertained for two hours. That might not sound like a very high bar to clear, but many of these reboots fall flat on their faces.
In fact, Eddie Murphy tried his hand at another long-awaited sequel back in 2021 with Coming 2 America. Although the movie had a big debut on Prime Video, it wasn’t especially well received, with a 49% critics score and an even worse 38% audience score.
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