Review of Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) by Mickey M — 07 Mar 2013

Detroit police detective "Axl Foley" (Eddie Murphy) returns to Los Angeles when a friend (Ronny Cox) is wounded while investigating the high-profiled "Alphabet Crimes." He rejoins officers "Billy Rosewood" (Judge Reinhold) and "John Taggart" (John Ashton) in an effort to not only stop the string of robberies, but to find the person who wounded his friend, and to help bring the person or persons responsible for the robberies in.

This movie stands pretty much on its own, but it would be a good idea to look at the first movie to get a feel for main characters.

There is some pretty good action scenes, but none that really stand out. The gun-play is pretty much the same, however, surprisingly for a movie which is rated R, there is little to no blood.

The one thing that really works well in this movie is the Murphy/Reinhold/Ashton trio. They play off one another nicely, and make you feel as if you are watching people who have worked together before.

In my opinion, the villains just don't work quite well -- with exception to Brigitte Nielsen. They were quite toned down for villains I think.

What truly stands out is Murphy in the comedic parts. "Axl Foley" launched his career into movie Superstardom, and you can see why. Reinhold and Ashton do a good job playing the straight man to the comic timing of Murphy.

Another problem is the character development of the minor characters and the villains. There was little development on these characters.

Director Tony Scott�?s did a good job binding the comedy and action. However, none of his direction makes this stand out from other movies in the genre.

The only reason to see it is for the Murphy/Reinhold/Ashton team and, of course, the comedic brilliance of Murphy in general.

In my opinion, Beverly Hills Cop II is a good, not fantastic sequel to the first movie.