Beverly Hills Cop 2
The original Beverly Hills Cop in 1984 was both another notch in Eddie Murphyâs nearly unblemished streak of hit comedies in the 1980s as well as being a raw, edgy, daring, groundbreaking action comedy in its own right, redefining the standards for an unconventional action hero who also happens to be a cop along with its strong story appeal of depicting all cops as being those who always stand together regardless of their backgrounds. As the highest grossing film among Murphyâs 80s hits, it also goes without saying that a sequel was inevitable, roaring into theatres in 1987 with a great deal of anticipation attached. Original director Martin Brest (easily the most underrated component of Part 1âs success) was replaced by one Tony Scott, hot off of just having directed Top Gun and now coming in to give this entry a slightly more flashy and stylish approach than the original. For one thing, the super clean, almost clinical look of The Beverly Hills Police Department in Part 1 is now replaced by a grittier, more darker look in its set direction which is presumably meant to be evocative of the changes internally within the department itself with a newly appointed Chief Of Police (Allen Garfield) who is said to be more of a politician than an actual cop and loves nothing more than to heap tons of verbal abuse onto his underlings, including the returning characters of Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Taggart (John Ashton) and Lt. Bogomil (Ronny Cox). When Coxâs Bogomil (in the course of investigating the so called âAlphabet Crimesâ where the locations of the robberies are being committed in alphabetical order) winds up being shot down like a dog (barely surviving in the process), word quickly gets back to Murphyâs Axel Foley in Detroit. Even though Foley is in the middle of an undercover sting operation involving phony credit cards (even running once again into Frank Pesceâs Cigarette Buyer from Part 1), he also remembers how in the climatic moments of the first film Cox had stuck his neck out for him on the chopping block in order to keep him from being fired and / or prosecuted for his (highly illegal) investigation at the time, so after making the proper arrangements to put his current case on hold which allows us to get in cameos from the also returning Gilbert R. Hill as Inspector Todd and Paul Reiser as his cop buddy Jeffrey, Foley heads back out to Beverly Hills where he is welcomed with open arms by Rosewood, Taggart and Bogomilâs cute blonde daughter as well (itâs clear that Axel is now long since accepted as being a part of the extended family in Beverly Hills law enforcement). Even though Rosewood and Taggart have been relegated to degrading traffic duty by the ranting tyrant of a police chief, they eagerly team up with Axel to get to the bottom of Bogomilâs near fatal shooting (with it being revealed that Bogomil and Taggart are actually lifelong friends who had joined the force together). Turns out that the one constant in all of the crimes was the presence of a 6 foot tall blonde woman who is pretty much the leader of the gang. It isnât long before this woman is revealed to be Brigitte Nielsen who makes for such a striking presence in both looks and sex appeal that she doesnât need to do too much else in order to make an impression as an imposing female villain. The true mastermind in the operation though is Jurgen Prochnow as an international arms dealer who is using the robberies to finance a major weapons score before leaving the country with Nielsen. Granted, as a master plan for a primary bad guy, that doesnât really have too much teeth to it and the fact that an actor the caliber of Dean Stockwell is brought in here and pretty much wasted as yet another henchman who is given nearly nothing to do is yet another example of the embarrassment of riches at the disposal of the filmmakers. Nonetheless, the obvious purpose of the film is to bring the original trio of Murphy, Reinhold and Ashton back together once again to engage in the same chemistry that they all shared in Part 1 (although itâs definitely not as inspired as it was the first time around but then again how could it possibly be?) and we also get some new insight into all three characters including coming to the conclusion that Axel (had he not become a cop) would have made a pretty damn good criminal in his own right or at the very least an exceptional petty thief. Rosewood continues to reveal himself as a near psychotic gun nut which is not a new character type per se but is at least enhanced by Reinholdâs boyish charm which offsets a lot of concerns (the line âBilly, weâve gotta talkâ is uttered often by both Murphy and Ashton) even as he literally dons a Sergio Leone style Western duster jacket for the final battle. And Ashtonâs Taggart is revealed as currently having marital problems at home even while staying on the case at hand, which makes this filmâs version of a strip club scene (while failing to top Part 1âs) almost a little bit poignant even as an undercover Taggart is passed off to the patrons as actually being former President Gerald Ford âwithout his makeupâ. Of course, saying that any of this is anywhere near as good as the original would be a definite falsehood as itâs easier to say that this was known to have had a solid formula going in and so it was decided that the best bet was to just stay the course and allow Murphy to come up with some more ad libbed schtick to keep things funny as when he pretends to be carrying a bagful of âplutonium bulletsâ in order to gain access to the private gun club that the bad guys work at (and the fact that the bimbo receptionist at said gun club is dumb enough to fall for it is pretty telling as well) along with perhaps the best bit in the movie being when Axel (with Rosewood and Taggart backing him up) ambles into the office of Prochnowâs accountant played by Gilbert Gottfried and do a (reportedly adlibbed) bit where Gottfried is hustled into thinking that he has several unpaid parking tickets that he is being arrested for and even goes so far as to bribe his way out of it (a recurring theme of the movie is Axel literally scamming money out of mostly rich people and then taking that same money and âdonatingâ it later on for a good cause of some kind). Another way that the movie pales next to the original is in its lack of an engrossing soundtrack. Yes, Harold Faltermeyerâs iconic Axel F instrumental is back in play (and again makes us feel like weâre in the zone for a Beverly Hills Cop film) and Bob Segerâs Shakedown over the opening credits is catchy, but the rest of the music on hand lacks that kinetic instant 80s feel that the first film did and it shows. And the last 20 minutes sees much of the nuance of the story (not that there was much to begin with) go completely out the window in exchange for an extended series of chases and shootouts (Prochnowâs reckoning in particular is so anticlimactic that he might as well be a stuntman) save for a somewhat weird and funny scene during a party at The Playboy Mansion which even features a cameo from Hugh Hefner himself. An even more bizarre touch here is in having Ashtonâs Taggart be in constant possession of a lit cigar during nearly all of his screentime (even when the trio are breaking into buildings to search for evidence) without Foley or Rosewood hardly even seeming to care. Garfield as the nasty bastard of a police chief (practically a villain in his own right) is more irritating than funny with his constantly uncalled for verbal abuse towards nearly everyone in sight (including his own ass kissing assistant) and Cox only figures into the first 10 minutes of the story before being shot down and spending the rest of the film inside of an oxygen tent. The film doesnât play looser and faster with the rules like Part 1 did since the novelty of Axel being a fish out of water is nowhere in sight (nor is his female best friend Jenny from the original who is not even referenced here), but at least Eddie Murphy appeared to have his head in the game which was NOT the case with the awful Part 3 that was thrust upon us some years later and both Reinhold and Ashton (whose later career was more scaled back than the other two) seem to be enjoying their paycheck roles enough to keep the momentum going and play off of Murphy superbly. Overall, another action comedy franchise that came off as being a comforting bigscreen TV cop showâŚ
8/10