What a difference the right cast makes.
On paper, along with films such as Footloose, Beverly Hills Cop is pure ’80s nostalgia tat. Footloose leap-frogged to success on MTV’s back, whilst Beverly Hills Cop breathed Simpson and Bruckheimer’s high-concept powerpitch fumes.
Murphy was big in ’84 but director Martin Brest and the Simpson/Bruckheimer pairing didn’t risk under-selling his Axel Foley.
Murphy’s machine-gun mouth is let off the leash in Cop’s very first scene, which leaves Detroit decimated (in case we didn’t know he’s a one-man riot).
Plot? You could fit it on the speeding ticket that inspired Simpson: “Motor-city cop in California nails smarmy coke smugglers.” But with his cat-on-cream smile energising the show, Murphy brings charm, yucks and racial resonance to a film that’s faster, funnier and, given Foley’s joshing friendship with dim-witted cops John Ashton and Judge Reinhold, warmer than you might remember.
The BD is patchy and merely carries over old SD extras but benefits from a crisp upgrade.
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