Review of Beverly Hills Cop (1984) by Dillinger P — 23 Sep 2015

In the 80's Eddie Murphy was bigger than god, in fact many hailed him as one, and although he may have had his fall from grace since then, his controversies and failed attempts at reinvigorating his career, Murphy was one of the greatest stand ups and comedy actors America ever created.

In an era full of SNL, stand up comedy and funny blockbusters, Murphy was literally the king off all of them and in some respects Beverly Hills Cop could be hailed as one of his most successful franchises.

Although the entire trilogy is like a roller coaster, the first installment was the one that started it all, with its rough exterior and laughably stilted sequences, however it had magic, a sense of fun and stupidity.

Beverly Hills Cop see's Eddie Murphy play Axel Foley, a wise cracking Detroit cop, who has a promising career if he could get a string of good luck. After the execution of his childhood friends Mikey, Foley asks for some vacation time in which to follow up a lead in Beverly Hills regarding Mikey's killer, however when he gets there he discovers an entirely different world.

It's hard to think of Beverly Hills Cop as anything but a great fish out of water movie, especially when you know Stallone was initially in the drivers seat for Axel Foley, Murphy's inclusion clearly made this film stand out, however with what we are left with, you cant help but feel some of Stallone's presence was still lurking in the roots of it all, most notably a home invasion shootout that resembles Commando's finale.

However Murphy, although clearly not completely confident with the character in this installment, does bring some massive amount of fun to the relatively formulaic and stilted proceedings. There is a slight air of this is so bad its good, however upon closer inspection, it was really the building blocks for something a lot stronger, as seen in the sequel.

Judge Reinhold, John Ashton and Ronny Cox all join in the fun and make a relatively brilliant collection of characters you love to be around, steered completely by Murphy's presence. Beverly Hills Cop really is a mixed bag, on the one hand it brings a whole host of fun into your life on the other, its brutally obvious where the cracks lie, under developed characterization, formulaic dialogue between characters, that had Murphy not been present would have been shunned for atrocious plot development, pretty tame action sequences and a slight feeling of missed opportunity.

All of the above are clear as day while watching, especially in retrospect, however for some reason it adds a cheesy charm to the whole proceedings. Beverly Hills Cop never has you cringing, never has a dull moment and feels utterly nostalgic straight off the bat with a blinding soundtrack, iconic scenes and of course Eddie Murphy coming into fruition.

Beverly Hills Cop is the film that had to happen in order for us to get the far superior sequel, however it does have a unique charm that is missing from all of the other installments. Hilarious film, which may divide opinions in todays culture, however there is no denying a sense of fun and stupidity to be had here.