Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)

Directed by: Tony Scott | 100 minutes | action, comedy, crime, thriller | Actors: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Jürgen Prochnow, Ronny Cox, Brigitte Nielsen, Allen Garfield, Dean Stockwell, Paul Reiser, Gilbert R. Hill, Paul Guilfoyle, Robert Ridgely, Brian OConnor, Alice Adair, Eugene Butler

Eddie Murphy has been added to the cast at the very last minute in ‘Beverly Hills Cop’. In the second part, ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’, the script is written around his acting and improvisational skills. As a viewer you would expect a better developed story, but in practice this turns out differently. Actually, the story is the same, but in a different jacket. Unfortunately, the makers have not taken much effort to make something surprising out of it. Perhaps they were still blinded by the unexpected success of the first part.

Eddie Murphy also seems less enthusiastic. He resolutely rejected Paramount’s idea of ​​turning it into a television series. After insisting, he gave in to the proposal of a second cinema film. Despite this, his acting sometimes seems uninspired. The supporting actors Judge Reinhold and John Ashton are clearly more excited. They get more screen time and their characters, unlike Eddie Murphy’s, have evolved. For example, the unconventional methods proposed by Axel Foley are now received with (appropriate) enthusiasm by Billy and John. That Brigitte Nielsen in the role of Karla Fry as right-hand man of Maxwell Dent (Jürgen Prochnow), of all people, has to represent the scum in this film is in itself ironic because at the time of the film she was married to Sylvester ‘Sly’ Stallone. It was he who at the last minute renounced participation in “Beverly Hills Cop.”

There are also plenty of other references to Sly in the film. For example, we see posters of the films ‘Rambo: First Blood Part II’ and ‘Cobra’. In the last film, Stallone also incorporated the ideas he had for ‘Beverly Hills Cop’. It can’t be a coincidence that John Taggart says “Fuck Rambo” to Billy Rosewood after detonating a truckload of guns and ammunition. As in the first part, this film is also full of wild chases, explosions and shootings. This is the work of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, who leave their mark on the film in this way. The fact that we can greet Tony Scott as director is due to his directing qualities for the film ‘Top Gun’.

Of course the well-known tune from Harold Faltermeyer’s keyboards is not missing. Now it is mainly used to connect the different scenes. ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ cannot match its predecessor, but if you don’t set your expectations too high, you will still enjoy this hundred minutes of simple action and moderate humor.