Review of Beverly Hills Cop 2

Introduction

It almost feels like a law of nature sometimes, for every successful movie there must be a sequel. In the thirst for box office bucks, Hollywood finds it easier to turn to a well-established franchise to guarantee its receipts rather than take a risk on something new. Then follows a cycle of diminishing returns that see ever disappointing sequels being made, which leave the audience wondering why they had fallen in love with the original in the first place. I can think of only one property that has escaped this fate, through constant reinvention and keeping pace with the times. That is, of course James Bond. But this entire preamble is nothing new, and a complaint that has been aired by moviegoers the world over since time immemorial. I merely rehash the old argument as a means of introducing my Beverly Hills Cop II review, and also because of a rather ridiculous moment in one of the interviews, where Jerry Bruckheimer compares the Axel Foley character to that of the British superspy. A claim that is ridiculous when you consider the third film. But this is Beverly Hills Cop II, where the franchise still had potential.

When the Alphabet Bandit commits a spate of carefully planned crimes, the only clues left behind are coded messages to taunt the police. Bogomil`s unconventional approach sees him suspended from his job. Returning from the office, he stops to help a statuesque woman with car trouble and he is brutally gunned down, turning into the B crime. When Axel Foley hears of this, he immediately drops what he is doing in Detroit, and comes to Beverly Hills to find his friend`s assailants. As Bogomil fights for his life in intensive care, Foley joins up with his friends, Taggart and Rosewood to solve the crime. But things have changed in the Beverly Hills Police department, and the new chief of police would like nothing better to be rid of Bogomil and his old department. The three friends must do their investigating on the sly, and Axel`s talents for wisecracking and sticking his nose in where it isn`t wanted are needed more than ever.

Video

There is a hint of grain, and a few signs of age in the 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. The picture itself is sharp and well defined, with plenty of strong colours. Tony Scott directs, and Beverly Hills Cop II is typical of the Bruckheimer and Simpson fare that we have come to expect over the years, but it is with this and Top Gun, both Tony Scott pictures, that we come to see a style that is still evident today, in movies like The Rock and Bad Boys (In fact, the City Deposit raid bears a remarkable resemblance to the heroin heist in Bad Boys). I may be unkind to say "style over substance" but when you look at the flashy visuals, the pop promo styling and the fast cutting action, mixed with the heavily tinted vistas that announce "sun soaked paradise" the trend becomes all too apparent.

Audio

Sound comes in DD 5.1 English and DD 2.0 German flavours. The surround is quite good, focusing on the effects and atmosphere and Harold Faltermeyer`s fun score is just as good as in the original. But the pop songs chosen to add to the score aren`t as good as the ones in the original, feeling a lot more generic and not adding enough to the personality of the film.

Features

Paramount comes through with extras once again. This is beginning to look like a habit. (I hope)

The sequel gets fewer than the original though. Starting with the cast and crew interview, lasting 22 minutes this explains the change in director and style. There is also a bit about Brigitte Neilsen, though no two people pronounce her name in the same way. Tony Scott describes the film as an action movie with a little comedy, while everyone else describes it as a comedy with a little action. While the documentary is interesting and funny, there is no contribution from Eddie Murphy.
The original behind the scenes featurette lasts 7 minutes, and is a more immediate look at the film. It is the usual PR guff, with interviews intermixed with movie clips, but you do get a good deal of information despite the short running time.
There is a 3-minute deleted scene with an introduction from Tony Scott and it`s immediately apparent why it was deleted.
The Shakedown Music Featurette (5 min) takes a look at pop music in the movies, and is an old featurette with a recently recorded introduction from Jerry Bruckheimer. All these extras are subtitled.
Finally there is the theatrical trailer.

Conclusion

I still enjoy Beverly Hills Cop II. It`s nowhere near as bad as some commentators make it, and it still stands out today as a worthy sequel in my mind. But that is despite, not because of the direction and the script. I found it rather amusing, that in the interviews, Jerry Bruckheimer speaks of the difficulty of making sequels, that it`s hard to make what is essentially the same film, but different. That is exactly what Beverly Hills Cop II is, a remake of the original. The main plot points are the same. Axel Foley comes to Beverly Hills to avenge his friend, and gets involved in all kinds of shenanigans while trying to avoid the Beverly Hills Police. It`s the same movie up to the point that the three main characters end up going to a strip club, again. Obviously some of the cast has changed, but the biggest difference is the director, Tony Scott and his vision for the movie. While Martin Brest was primarily a character director who took a decent script and let the characters tell a story around it, Tony Scott is a visual director who decided to focus on the action and throw in a little comedy. His film makes little room for characterisation or story. While Brest had highlighted the difference between Detroit and Beverly Hills, the sequel has the two cities looking identical and glamorous.

What rescues this film from pop promo ignominy is the fact that most of the original cast return. The three primary actors are given free reign to improvise and develop their characters further. Eddie Murphy is just as funny and cocksure as before, but the jokes are on the verge of contrivance, rather than the humour coming naturally from story. John Ashton gets to have more fun with Taggart and the wonderful byplay with Judge Reinhold as Rosewood is still there and just as entertaining. Rosewood develops the most in this movie, becoming ridiculously gung ho in contrast to the gentle, almost pacific character we are introduced to in the original. Gil Hill returns as the deliciously foul-mouthed Inspector Todd, but the best-developed character is Jeffrey, played by Paul Reiser who has to cover for Axel`s absence in Detroit. You get a better sense of his relationship with Axel in this film and it`s funnier for it.

That`s where the good news ends, for the rest of the cast is disappointing. They have no prequel to have established their characters and Tony Scott doesn`t really do much to emphasise them. Jürgen Prochnow is the premier bad guy, Maxwell Dent but his main characterisation is to use words of more than two syllables. The sense of menace that Steven Berkoff brought to Maitland in the original is woefully absent and I found myself ambivalent about the bad guys in this film. Brigitte Nielsen is cast as a statuesque platinum blonde, a role to which she is eminently suited and she does little to expand on her character. Dean Stockwell just looks lost as Chip Cain and I felt the role didn`t suit him. The other antagonist, Themopolis may have been invisible for all the impact he had on this film. Finally the Police Chief, Lutz played by Allen Garfield was more irritating than entertaining.

Beverly Hills Cop II stands solely on the strength of the performance from the three leads. Fortunately they are strong enough to carry this film and what`s more, keep it entertaining. But the truth be told, Tony Scott`s direction creates a rather sterile and pre-packaged product that doesn`t live up to the original article and sets the standard for a lot of the Bruckheimer and Simpson productions that have come since. A good disc packages a film that isn`t as good as the original, but still is a blast.