Review of Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) by Van R — 22 May 2011

This uninspired sequel about a counterfeit ring concealed within the bowels of a Walt Disney like theme park qualifies as the worst entry in the BEVERLY HILLS COP franchise. Original producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer had nothing to do with this Paramount release that unimaginatively brings Detriot Detective Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) back to California.

You can tell when a franchise has run out of imagination when it starts knocking off its own characters and making references to ones who don't reprise their parts. Not even Bronson Pinchot can regenerate the magic with Serge, an English-language challenged foreigner.

Although the stunt work is exemplary in the Spider Ride park scene, the numerous firefights between our hero and the villains boast neither suspense nor tension. BEVERLY HILLS COP 3 recycles all the usual cliches, among them the worst offender is the villains who cannot hit the side of a barn with their machine guns.

AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON helmer John Landis keeps the action moving, but the Steven E. de Souza screenplay suffers from a dire lack of revelations in the plot twists. Worse, Axel seems to have lost his charisma.

Indeed, the second sequel looks like a bare bones television movie. Despite the profane language, this R-rated actioneer qualifies as a by-the-number, cookie cutter actioneer. Clearly, the franchise had lost its agility by this entry and nothing Murphy does resuscitate it.

While he is investigating the chief villain, Ellis De Wald (Timothy Carhart of THELMA AND LOUISE), Axel flirts with Janice (Theresa Randle of JUNGLE FEVER) who works for everybody's favorite uncle, Uncle Dave Thornton (Alan White) who cannot figure out what is happening in his theme park.

BEVERLY HILLS COP 3 resembles the original only in the narrative respect that our protagonist leaves Detroit and goes back to Beverly Hills to arrest the scumbag that shot his boss, Inspector Douglas Todd (Gilbert R.

Hill of BEVERLY HILLS COP), during a raid on a car chop shop. Once Axel enters Wonder World, the film degenerates into a claustrophobic mediocrity.