Beverly Hills Cop 2 (1987) June 25th, 2024

If you’ve ever sent improperly cooked food back to the kitchen you know it usually comes back overcooked, which doesn’t really solve the problem or compensate you for the loss. Now imagine that same experience but the kitchen recognized their poor performance and sends back a perfectly prepared replacement entree with a gratis appetizer and a bottle of wine that pairs perfectly with both. Beverly Hills Cop II is that experience, but with movies.

Beverly Hills Cop II is so much better than Beverly Hills Cop that I’m half convinced most Beverly Hills Cop enthusiasts misattribute the achievements of the sequel to the original. Where Beverly Hills Cop is flat and boring, Beverly Hills Cop II brings dynamic cinematography by Top Gun‘s directing and cinematography tag team of Tony Scott and Jeffery L. Kimball. This is instantly noticeable and inarguably Beverly Hills Cop II‘s greatest improvement. Beverly Hills Cop II also finally leans into being openly comical with multiple scenes with Axel doing Bugs Bunny style masquerades. Typically these begin with Axel needing to get somewhere or obtain something and a well-meaning mark standing in his way. He introduces his new character to the mark and establishes his new name, occupation, and purpose like a one man improv show. These silly bits last about 3 minutes until he gets what he wants and moves on through the plot. These bits would be played more serious in Beverly Hills Cop but now overtly comical, in one instance going so far as to include comedic legend Gilbert Gottfried as a bank official who’s swindled into giving Axel unfettered access to the bank’s financial records. These choices to embrace Eddie Murphy’s comedic talents appear as a deliberate distinction between the two films.

Beverly Hills Cop II is the rare example of a franchice moving in the right creative direction by improving on the core elements of its predecessor instead of rehashing and degrading the preceeding film’s best elements. Truly one of the best sequels I’ve seen in a while, Beverly Hills Cop II makes me excited and confident that the third film will continue to improve in the right direction without and fumbles. Beverly Hills Cop is poised to remain a relevant and influential franchise with regularly released installments for decades to come.