Version I saw: UK DVD release
Actors: 6/10
Plot/script: 6/10
Photography/visual style: 6/10
Music/score: 6/10
Overall: 6/10
It's easy to forget these days, but there was a time when Eddie Murphy was widely acknowledged as one of the funniest men alive. Beverly Hills Cop II is around the zenith of his power, and also that of director Tony Scott.
Scott was just coming off Top Gun which, like it or not, is one of the most commercially successful films of all time, and thus incredibly influential. With these films, he practically set the template for 80s Hollywood: big, brash action scenes interspersed with big, brash... everything else.
It suits Eddie Murphy perfectly, given that his stage persona is all about being the coolest, biggest personality in the room. Although it presents as a 'fish out of water' story, BHC2 is actually more like the tale of a virus entering a new population that has no immunity to it. Nobody can defend against the motor mouth of Axel, Murphy's character. I sometimes wished someone did in fact, just once, so that he could get out of the situation some other way, but he talked his way out of or into everything perfectly, without fail.
It's an enjoyable romp, with a central trio whose friendship I believed in. Scott's fingerprint is visible in the thrilling car chase sequences and (literally) explosive shoot-outs. There's not much depth to it, but you can get that elsewhere, like in the work of Tony Scott's older brother Ridley. Tony (now sadly deceased) did stylish action thrillers, and he did them damn well.
Actors: 6/10
Plot/script: 6/10
Photography/visual style: 6/10
Music/score: 6/10
Overall: 6/10
It's easy to forget these days, but there was a time when Eddie Murphy was widely acknowledged as one of the funniest men alive. Beverly Hills Cop II is around the zenith of his power, and also that of director Tony Scott.
Scott was just coming off Top Gun which, like it or not, is one of the most commercially successful films of all time, and thus incredibly influential. With these films, he practically set the template for 80s Hollywood: big, brash action scenes interspersed with big, brash... everything else.
It suits Eddie Murphy perfectly, given that his stage persona is all about being the coolest, biggest personality in the room. Although it presents as a 'fish out of water' story, BHC2 is actually more like the tale of a virus entering a new population that has no immunity to it. Nobody can defend against the motor mouth of Axel, Murphy's character. I sometimes wished someone did in fact, just once, so that he could get out of the situation some other way, but he talked his way out of or into everything perfectly, without fail.
It's an enjoyable romp, with a central trio whose friendship I believed in. Scott's fingerprint is visible in the thrilling car chase sequences and (literally) explosive shoot-outs. There's not much depth to it, but you can get that elsewhere, like in the work of Tony Scott's older brother Ridley. Tony (now sadly deceased) did stylish action thrillers, and he did them damn well.