BEVERLY HILLS COP was a smash hit that improved upona film genre, the action/comedy. So, it would inevitably sprout a sequel. Sadly, it had none of the charm or intelligence of its predecessor. Instead we are given an extremely plotty, artsy action film with no laughs. This film has more in common with James Bond than Axel Foley with its high-tech thieves, gorgeous women and moody filming. Much of this has to do with the poor script and the films director, TOP GUN's Tony Scott. And what worked in TOP GUN doesn't neccesarily work here.
The storyline has Murphy again leave Detroit to help solve a murder attempt of his BEVERLY HILLS COP friend, Captain Bogomil (Ronny Cox). He again teams with Taggart and Rosewood, but their characters have groan... errr... grown. Taggart now carries a "my wife is leaving me' subplot that is very tiresome and Rosewood has grown into a weapon happy Rambo wanna-be. None of this adds up to much other than a very slick, expensive sequel. Director Scott admits he is not a comedy director and it shows. He cut it all out.
Perhaps as a nod to Sylvester Stallone (who was cast and replaced in the original film), Sly shows up in not one but two movie posters and his then wife Brigette Nielsen portrays the villains Amazonian henchwoman. Watch for a young Chris Rock as a valet at the Hugh Hefner mansion where you will see one of the most exploitive scenes in the past 30 years.
This DVD is part of a new Special Edition release of the "COP" trilogy and has a nice audio/video transfer. Its supplemental features include a half hour cast and crew interview and some music videos. Followed up by another sub-standard sequel.
Rating
Date
August 02, 2005
Summary
A Great Under-Rated Sequel!
Content
1987... a year full of cop comedy action thrillers. Dragnet(Tom Hanks), Lethal Weapon(Mel Gibson), Police Academey 4(Steve Guttenberg), Real Men(John Ritter), Robocop(Peter Weller), and The Untouchables(Kevin Costner). I really do believe Beverly Hills Cop II... deserves to be compared and called better, than a lot of these other titles.
Eddie Murphy... once again gives a stunning funny role as the detective Axel Foley. Seriously, to me this is one of Murphy's best movies... with the combination of his action and comedy. Better than the first Beverly Hills Cop, and even better than the sequel Another 48 Hrs(Nick Nolte).
With the return of the two friend detectives Judge Reinhold(Fast Times At Ridgemont High), and John Ashton(Some Kind of Wonderful). For a sequel... I already knew these three cops were bringing back all of their action and humor, to be even better than the first Beverly Hills Cop.
Brigitte Nielsen... definitely gives a great character as the cold blooded villian. Besides the movie Cobra(Sylvester Stallone), this is the only other thing you want to see Nielsen in. In fact, all of the supporting cast is excellent I'd say. You got Jurgen Prochnow(Das Boot), Paul Reiser(Aliens), Ronny Cox(Total Recall), and even Chris Rock in his first movie ever with a short minute cameo.
Tony Scott... the director is one of my favoite directors of all-time. Just after finishing Top Gun(Tom Cruise), he started Beverly Hills Cop II... and I think he was the best director to do a sequel for this. Going on next to do a line of action hits starting with The Last Boy Scout(Bruce Willis), and True Romance(Christian Slater). I can't wait to see his newest films Domino(Keira Knightly), and the remake of The Warriors in 2006.
The dvd special features to Beverly Hills Cop II is once again great, better than average. 5.1 surround sound, interviews with the cast and crew, and deleted scenes with the director Tony Scott. If you have neither of these three Beverly Hills Cop movies... I honestly would buy the box set instead of this just by itself. It's only ten dollars more, a steal really.
Compared to the first Beverly Hills Cop, the sequel to me is ten times better. All of the returning actors are funnier, all of the new actors/villians are way cooler. The action, the director are both huge editions from the previous movie. The plot is a lot more interesting to follow. Beverly Hills Cop II is an action movie that delivers perfectly!
Rating
Date
February 12, 2005
Summary
Beverly Hills Cop II
Content
I like this one as much as the first, but I seem to watch this one more. The action, comedy, the supporting cast, everything made me like this. Check it out.
Rating
Date
December 15, 2004
Summary
4.5 Stars Good movie for a sequel, not quite up to the first
Content
This movie opens with a bang, and doesn't let up. It's just not quite as good as the original movie. There are some rather glaring gaps that make the movie not quite as believable.
First, how can there be a series of "Alphabet Crimes" if they've only gotten the letter for the second one.
Second, near the end, it's strange that the first cop cars arrive well in advance of the second, and yet there are no other cops around before the second group arrive.
Eddie Murphy shines bright. His fast talking almost equals the first one. The scene in the garage is classic and ties the two movies together with yet another cast member that were in the first hit.
Paul Reiser is even more obnoxious this time. He just doesn't stop talking. He says "This isn't my office!" which correlates to the first with the locker room scene.
Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Ronny Cox all return successfully continuing their shining roles. This time we also get treated to Brigitte Nielsen as the tall blonde bombshell. Dean Stockwell stuggles does a decent job as the fairly inept Charles Cain. Allen Garfield joins this movie as the blunt Chief who won't listen to anyone and tells everyone else to "Shut-up" repeatedly. Gilbert Godfried is hilarious as the C.P.A (Certifiable Public Annoyance). He plays a financial advisor in his typical over the top style. Chris Rock stars as a valet trying to figure out how to park a cement truck. Hugh Heffner has a cameo with many of his playmates.
Not as good as the first but ultimately enjoyable. If it weren't for the gaps this would've gotten 5 stars from me.
Rating
Date
October 11, 2004
Summary
Beverly Hills Cop II
Content
Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is back in the hit sequel, Beverly Hills Cop 2. Many times sequels to original blockbuster films are sucky. There even more sucky when the sequel is done by a different director (Tony Scott) than the original film (Martin Brest) , but in this case that's not the case. Beverly Hills Cop 2 is amazingly good, it's funny, has a good script,
has action and suspense.
THe story in this film is that Axel's buddy, and friend former Chief Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox) has been shot and left for dead by a crazy lunatic arms dealer named Karly Fry (brilliant done by Brigitte Nielsen).
Axel , back in Detroit, heads to Beverly Hills to see his friend and to aid his fellow friends Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton) in getting justice for his friend.
However, a new police chief Harold Lutz (Allen Garfield) a small man with lots of power, plans to derail their investigation while at the same kissing the butt of the mayor (Robert Ridgely) to further his career and reputation.
Like I said, Beverly Hills Cop 2 has alot of action. There are gun fights, car chases and everything found in a good action flick.
However, I also liked the fact that all the characters were back in the film and that all of them were as close as ever.
Billy Rosewood, the nice and anal friend of Taggart, has become a wannabee Rambo type guy collecting guns and weapons leading to Taggart telling him that "We need to talk". lol
However, Billy and Taggart in the last film do become helpful in helping Axel, along with giving us a couple of good laughs.
Axel (Eddie Murphy) is again at his comical best, doing everything legal and illegal to find out whose behind his friend's shooting and bringing them down hard.
All in all, Beverly Hills Cop 2 is a great sequel to the original. Many of the cool music tunes are back along with a couple of new ones, plus the film manages to recreate the hysterical laughs from the first film and adds alot of action.
There has actually been 2 games made of Beverly Hills Cop. One for the PC and one for the Commodore 64.
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