Search - Beverly Hills Cop II on DVD

UP TO SCRATCH SEQUEL

Inspector Gadget | On the trail of Doctor Claw | 08/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Up to scratch in all areas apart from the editing. I'll get to that later. This one sees Axel head back to Detroit after a 3-year gap to solve the Alphabet crimes. The film is more violent than the original and is truer to the Simpson/Bruckhiemer films that followed. When you compare this movie to more recent flicks like Con Air or Gone In 60 Seconds you can see a definite resemblance in style. These movies have very fast editing to heighten the action. Obviously the editors practiced on this movie as the editing is very bad and there are many continuity mistakes. It doesn't retread the same ground either. The first summed up what Beverly Hills was like in the early 80's but this one shows us the world indulgent Americans live in when they have more money than they can spend. As Axel says "These rich people loose their minds and want to live in a donut", when describing to a building foreman that there are not supposed to be any right angles in the house he is about to "steal". The music has improved a bit too. Even if some of it is a direct rip-off of the music in John Carpenter's Escape From New York. It's a shame the music (not songs) from these films is not available on soundtrack. Give Beverly Hills Cop 2 a chance and don't listen to the narrow-minded critics who panned this film (13 years ago). It is also the only one of the 3 that is in 2.35:1.I hope for a DVD release soon."

Excellent Sequel, That's Very Entertaining

Justin Heath | Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada | 10/11/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The original Beverley Hills Cop is one of those films that remains a cult classic because of the fact that it's such a product of the time it was made. This quintessential eighties style is carried over to the sequel, made three years later, and although part two; like many sequels, never quite manages that same verve as the original film - it still offers a good time, and anyone that enjoyed the first installment (and who didn't?) will probably have a good time with this sequel too. All the main players from the original film have been rounded up once again, with Eddie Murphy heading a capable ensemble cast, lots of wisecracks and some gratuitously over the top action sequences. The plot is, as you would expect, superfluous to the style of the film; and much of the movie is simply tailored around it; but anyway, it follows maverick copper Axel Foley and his two California police cronies as they are pulled into a case known as the 'alphabet murders', which involves a robbery, a tall blonde woman and a gun shop owner.

I've got to say that Eddie Murphy's wisecracks were a lot funnier in the first film. While they were still over the top, they were at least sort of believable. Here, however, Murphy goes massively over the top, and it's hard to imagine how anyone that obnoxious doesn't end up with a cracked jaw. Anyway, Murphy obviously enjoys himself; and if you can get by the complete lack of logic, you probably will too. True to style, the action is completely over the top too; with several ridiculous sequences combining to make the movie the entertaining blockbuster that it is. The film lacks any kind of themes or substance, meaning that it will both not please serious film fans, and that this reviewer is running out of steam; but I will say that this movie does have a point to make, and that is simply entertaining it's audience. It may be completely silly, illogical fun; but some movies need to be there just to entertain, and this is one of those. I wouldn't recommend sticking this movie at the top of any must see lists, or going into with huge expectations; but it's a good time, that's for sure."

Not quite as good as the first, but still worth it.

Axel Law | Derby, KS, USA | 02/11/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's hard to repeat the same magic over again, and perhaps this film best states that. Tony Scott directs this time around and while he made this one flashier and more action-packed than its predecessor, he doesn't quite handle it as well as Martin Brest did. Still, Eddie Murphy is funny as ever and delivers many memorable performances. Judge Reinhold and John Ashton are also onboard and are in fine form. To sum it all up, the performances are great (with Paul Reiser having a larger role than before) and the visual style is WOW. But the plot is very thin this time around and the film drags towards the end. It doesn't hold a candle to the first one, but stands alright on its own. Just watch and enjoy."

Axel Foley's second go round

C.H. | Beach Park, IL | 03/19/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) returns to Beverly Hills to take on thugs after his police captain friend Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox) is shot and wounded. Flashy sequel is never boring but there are several problems: Murphy is loud and obnoxious, timid by the book cop Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) is now a gun freak who never questions authority, and Bogomil is seen at the beginning of the film happily chatting with Foley about a fishing trip, despite the fact that he ran Foley out of town at the conclusion of the previous film. The action sequences are pretty overkill and come off as exhausting rather than exhilarating. The "Alphabet Bandit" scenario is pretty cartoonish. Mindless entertainment but this was 1987's top grosser, so you decide."