“Discover ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ on Netflix: A Revived Classic with Eddie Murphy Returns, Blending Nostalgia and New Adventures”
Now streaming on Netflix, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is a fantastic film that used to release in cinemas during the pre-streaming era of holidays. Despite the poor response to “Beverly Hills Cop III” in 1994 – critics gave it a fresh rating of only 11% while audiences on RottenTomatoes.com rated it at 35% fresh – it seems Netflix has saved money by not releasing this fourth installment in theaters before its streaming debut. Nevertheless, here we are with a feature film revived as Netflix’s original, alongside the franchise’s familiar music (Harold Faltermeyer’s “Axel F,” The Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” Bob Seger’s “Shakedown”) welcoming fans.
Although 40 years have passed, this sequel doesn’t heavily rely on characters aging. It includes supporting characters such as Detroit’s Deputy Police Chief Jeffrey Friedman (Paul Reiser), but it doesn’t focus on Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) as much, perhaps because Murphy doesn’t appear as old. Instead, the script written by the team of writers, who also penned the “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” sequel, plays with the concept of how Foley fits into modern customs. “Your days on the streets are over,” Friedman says to Foley at the start of the film. “They don’t want swordsmen there anymore. They want social workers.” However, the film’s major thematic focus is on the broken relationship between Axel and his now-adult daughter, Jenny (Taylor Paige, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”). (Murphy previously attempted a father-child angle for the “Beverly Hills Cop” TV series pilot in 2013, centered on Axel’s son, but CBS passed on the proposed show after screening the pilot.)
“Axel F” starts in Detroit, where Foley continues his rampage under the guise of ending bad guys. But a call from his friend Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) in California warns that Jenny is in danger, prompting Foley to return to 90210. (Mark Pellegrino, star of “American Rust” filmed in Pittsburgh, played a small supporting role as an antagonist.) Jenny is a lawyer trying to exonerate a client accused of killing a corrupt cop. Her ex-husband, Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), is a retired police spy working for Police Chief John Taggart (John Ashton), who was absent from “Beverly Hills Cop III” but claims he didn’t retire to protect his wife at home.
Abbott makes a meta-joke about “Beverly Hills Cop III” when he looks at Foley’s file and notes that their journey in 1994 “was not your best time.” Director Mark Molloy, whose previous work was primarily video shorts/advertisements for Apple and other brands, presents good scenes to look back on, but many of them end up adding more to the film.
“Axel F” lasts for about two hours and would have been better in 90 minutes. The film is most enjoyable when it leans towards comedy, including Foley’s reunion with Serge (Pinchot) and introducing a new character played by Nasim Pedrad (“Chad”), a real estate agent who steals scenes from both Murphy and Pinchot. The film’s plot seems predictable – the villain is clear, and there could even be mustaches in the climax – but “Axel F” is a good nostalgia drama.
C.K. has a job as a meteorologist C.K.-TV will return to work as a meteorologist by August, when newly appointed Trey Fulbright will broadcast weekday mornings, taking over the spot previously held by Falesha Woody, who left in February.
Fulbright has played baseball in Memphis, Tennessee, and Fort Worth, Texas, and has come from Casey, Iowa, to C.K. from KCCI-TV. He graduated from Iowa State University in 2022, where he obtained a major in meteorology and a minor in journalism.
He spends his holidays monitoring storms at the Great Plains. The Downward Dog Shorts produced by an animal studio in Pittsburgh inspired ABC to buy a half-hour comedy collection of the same call, filmed locally and aired in 2017. Those shorts had been published at the animal’s Instagram web page closing week and are attracting attention to the new collection.
According to Michael Killen, executive manufacturer of the ABC series, “Animal” has long gone from 1,500 fans at the animal’s Instagram web page to eighty,000 followers.
He said, “We have a complete of almost eight million views. I do not know!!! Maybe it evokes us to make greater shorts or perhaps expand ones. We’re speakme approximately it.”
ION Plus OTT ION Plus, an established fast streaming channel, is now also an over-the-air channel. It was launched this week on WINP-TV Channel 16.4 in Pittsburgh.
PBS Short Film Festival “Waves – The Missing,” a documentary short produced by WQED-TV’s Amy Grove, Ash Warren, and Lou Cooper, premiered in August 2023 and was included in the PBS Short Film Festival in February 2024, competing online on PBS.org, YouTube, and the PBS app from July 15-26. “Within the movie, the narrative unfolds around the mysterious vanishing of artist Toni Turner during the New Year’s Eve celebrations of 2019.”
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