Beverly Hills Cop II
35th Anniversary 4K review by Bobby Blakey
Eddie Murphy has had an insane career from SNL funnyman, iconic stand up specials and box office superstar. Back in 1984 he jumped onto the big screen with the action comedy Beverly Hills Cop that spawned two sequels and ongoing talks about a fourth film coming soon. To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the film Paramount is bringing the original trilogy home in the Beverly Hill Cop 3 Film Collection.
Beverly Hills Cop II follows Axel Foley who returns to Beverly Hills to help Taggart and Rosewood investigate Chief Bogomil's near-fatal shooting and the series of "alphabet crimes" associated with it. It throws him back where he doesn't belong, going "deep, deep, deep undercover" to stop a gang of international munitions smugglers.
I know I have seen both sequels but outside of a few scenes with Brigitte Nielsen I didn’t remember all that much. While this film isn’t near as good as the original it still offers up a lot of the same laughs and action as the first film. Where the story falls short it is still held together thanks to the great chemistry of Murphy, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton. Seeing the
evolution of their relationship makes the film work better than it might have otherwise. In the end though this was still a good follow up to further the crime solving fun with Axel Foley.
The new 4K transfer looks great and is the obvious perfect companion release to the original. It doesn’t offer up any new bonus content, but the film is entertaining enough on its own to make it worth it. Grab your copy of the Beverly Hills Cop II: 35th Anniversary when it hits 4K on May 17th from Paramount Home Entertainment.