When Lieutenant Bogomil (Ronny Cox) is gunned down in broad daylight by a mysterious assassin detectives Rosewood and Taggart set to work in trying to find out who was behind the shooting. Upon hearing of the news, Detroit police officer Axel Foley once again reunites with Taggart and Rosewood and assists with their investigations much to the dismay of the chief of police Harold Lutz (Allen Garfield)...
Critically, the first Beverley Hills Cop film was a success and has remained a popular film even 30 + years later and having seen it recently I can see why as it had a winning combination of Eddie Murphy at the top of his game and good straight-man support from Reinhold and Ashton plus a serviceable story.
What surprised me is that the second film offers all of the same things yet it never seems to get held in the same kind of light at this first film; perhaps the reason is that many purists have the belief that familiarity breeds contempt, but for me sometimes a bit of what you know can be a good thing.
I have to concede that there were parts in the early stages of the film that I found to be a little overbearing; we know that Beverly Hills Cop and Murphy are both loud, but for about the first 20-30 minutes it was literally too much at times - I've always been a fan of Eddie Murphy's, but some of his early scenes were a little too loud and shouty and at times some of these moments came across as irritating. Thankfully things improve and settle down when he makes the trip to Beverly Hills which was a relief as I don't think my lugholes could have endure the loudness much longer.
Once the investigation begins it does become enjoyable and I have to admit that Axel's ingenuity in getting information from people (whether directly or indirectly) holds no bounds and is always fun to watch. Reinhold and Ashton are great once again in supporting roles and Gil Hill was always a good character who sadly only had a small role in this film.
Sadly what does let the film down slightly is Brigitte Nielsen who has never been much of an actress and basically recites her lines as though she's reading them from an autocue and I'm sorry but I never found her that 'sexy' either. Isn't it also interesting that Rosewood had posters of Rambo and Cobra in his house (2 Stallone films) all at the time when Stallone was married to Brigitte Nielsen and she had an affair with Tony Scott. I suspect Nielsen only got the role based on these factors making her appearance all the more uncomfortable and out of place for those who know too much. Prochnow fares better and at least manages to bring a little menace, but Stockwell is weak. Look out for a cameo from Chris Rock at an early point in his career and a more obvious cameo from the late Hugh Hefner.
Still despite some off-set issues at least Tony Scott does a relatively good job on-set by providing the audience with plenty of spectacle and some solid action sequences. In my opinion this is every bit as good as the original film and I am a little bit perplexed as to why it seems to be looked upon less favourably than the original film. Simply put if you liked the first film then you'll enjoy this sequel.
Critically, the first Beverley Hills Cop film was a success and has remained a popular film even 30 + years later and having seen it recently I can see why as it had a winning combination of Eddie Murphy at the top of his game and good straight-man support from Reinhold and Ashton plus a serviceable story.
What surprised me is that the second film offers all of the same things yet it never seems to get held in the same kind of light at this first film; perhaps the reason is that many purists have the belief that familiarity breeds contempt, but for me sometimes a bit of what you know can be a good thing.
I have to concede that there were parts in the early stages of the film that I found to be a little overbearing; we know that Beverly Hills Cop and Murphy are both loud, but for about the first 20-30 minutes it was literally too much at times - I've always been a fan of Eddie Murphy's, but some of his early scenes were a little too loud and shouty and at times some of these moments came across as irritating. Thankfully things improve and settle down when he makes the trip to Beverly Hills which was a relief as I don't think my lugholes could have endure the loudness much longer.
Once the investigation begins it does become enjoyable and I have to admit that Axel's ingenuity in getting information from people (whether directly or indirectly) holds no bounds and is always fun to watch. Reinhold and Ashton are great once again in supporting roles and Gil Hill was always a good character who sadly only had a small role in this film.
Sadly what does let the film down slightly is Brigitte Nielsen who has never been much of an actress and basically recites her lines as though she's reading them from an autocue and I'm sorry but I never found her that 'sexy' either. Isn't it also interesting that Rosewood had posters of Rambo and Cobra in his house (2 Stallone films) all at the time when Stallone was married to Brigitte Nielsen and she had an affair with Tony Scott. I suspect Nielsen only got the role based on these factors making her appearance all the more uncomfortable and out of place for those who know too much. Prochnow fares better and at least manages to bring a little menace, but Stockwell is weak. Look out for a cameo from Chris Rock at an early point in his career and a more obvious cameo from the late Hugh Hefner.
Still despite some off-set issues at least Tony Scott does a relatively good job on-set by providing the audience with plenty of spectacle and some solid action sequences. In my opinion this is every bit as good as the original film and I am a little bit perplexed as to why it seems to be looked upon less favourably than the original film. Simply put if you liked the first film then you'll enjoy this sequel.