Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F – Netflix Review

February 13, 2025

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“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is an action-comedy film that marks the return of Eddie Murphy as Detective Axel Foley.

This epic movie opens with Detroit detective Axel Foley being once again at the centre of the action. While on duty, Axel pursues a group of thieves who are looting the Detroit Red Wings locker room during a game. His high-octane chase wreaks havoc across the city, resulting in significant collateral damage. To protect Axel from severe disciplinary repercussions, his friend and superior, Deputy Chief Jeffrey Friedman, is forced into early retirement. Before leaving, Friedman urges Axel to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Jane Saunders, who has built her life as a defence attorney in Los Angeles.

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Amidst the chaos in Detroit, Axel receives an urgent call from his former partner Billy Rosewood. Now working as a private investigator after a fallout with John Taggart, Rosewood warns that Jane’s life is in imminent danger. Jane is currently defending Enriquez—a man who has been framed for the murder of undercover officer Copeland. While assisting Jane in her case, Rosewood retrieves key evidence from the vehicle involved in the crime. However, this act of discovery puts him squarely in the crosshairs of a dangerous cartel, and he is kidnapped shortly afterwards.

Deeply troubled by Rosewood’s sudden disappearance, Axel travels to Beverly Hills. Almost immediately upon arrival, he senses something amiss. At Rosewood’s office, he observes a team of mysterious individuals combing through the space. In the ensuing confusion, Axel manages to swipe a page critical to the investigation from Rosewood’s personal organiser by comically acting to be a part of them. Before he can piece together its significance, he is chased through the upscale streets of Rodeo Drive and ends up getting arrested by local police for public disturbance and over-speeding

At the Beverly Hills Police Department, Axel encounters Detective Bobby Abbott (Jane’s ex-boyfriend) and reunites with John Taggart, who is now the local police chief. Taggart introduces Axel to Captain Cade Grant; a man whom Axel immediately mistrusts. Grant’s overly lavish attire and demeanour stand in stark contrast to the typical expectations of a police officer’s modest lifestyle, further deepening Axel’s suspicions. Meanwhile, Jane, though she bails Axel out, remains distant. Their strained relationship is rooted in the past: years ago, during a case involving the Detroit mafia, threats forced Jane and her mother to leave for Los Angeles while Axel stayed behind. This unresolved history adds emotional complexity to their renewed interactions.

Soon after their reunion, an ambush on Wilshire Boulevard forces Axel and Jane into a dangerous shootout, from which Detective Abbott rescues them. In the aftermath, Axel begins to probe into Taggart’s leadership and, more pointedly, the integrity of Captain Grant. The breakthrough comes when the trio recovers a camera from the car linked to Copeland’s murder. Analysis of the footage and the realisation that Grant’s team were frantically searching for an SD card containing damning evidence points them toward a new lead. A page from Rosewood’s organiser provides an address that turns out to be a mansion owned by Grant. Unbeknownst to most, this mansion is used as a money-laundering front for the cartel.

Determined to uncover the truth, Axel enlists the help of his friend Serge by posing as a potential buyer for a property next door to the mansion. Inside the estate, Axel uncovers more evidence linking back to Copeland’s murder. However, surveillance quickly alerts Grant to their presence, setting off a dangerous cat-and-mouse game. Following a heated argument with Jane, Axel and Abbott seek assistance from Chalino who is Enriquez’s uncle and the head of the cartel, He confirms that Grant is deeply entangled in protecting the cartel’s operations. Chalino also reveals that a crucial drug shipment is scheduled to depart from the port that very night. In a twist of betrayal, Abbott and Axel are framed for drug possession by Grant and are arrested. Axel manages to escape custody and, with Abbott’s reluctant help, hijacks a helicopter. Their daring flight to the Beverly Hills Police Station is abruptly cut short when Grant shoots the helicopter’s rotor, forcing a crash. This dramatic event convinces Taggart that corruption has deeply infiltrated his team, and he finally agrees to help Jane with her investigation. But the danger escalates when Jane herself is kidnapped by thugs loyal to Grant.

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Determined to rescue Jane and retrieve the SD card containing incriminating evidence, Axel and Abbott make their way to the port where the cartel operates. There, they locate and free the kidnapped Rosewood. However, just as they prepare to recover the hidden SD card, Grant makes a chilling phone call announcing that he is holding Jane captive. With the assistance of Deputy Chief Friedman, Axel, Rosewood, Abbott, and Taggart triangulate her location back at the cartel mansion. A massive firefight erupts as the group launches an assault against Grant’s well-armed cartel forces. Amid the chaos, Jane manages to escape her captors. In the heat of the final confrontation, Axel and Grant come face-to-face; during the ensuing struggle, Axel is wounded while valiantly protecting Jane, and Abbott ultimately fatally shoots Grant in the head, putting an end to his corrupt reign.

In the aftermath of the violent showdown, the evidence gathered from the SD card clears Enriquez of the wrongful murder charge against Copeland. As Axel recovers in the hospital from the injuries sustained during the confrontation, he uses the opportunity to mend the fractured relationship with his daughter Jane. The film concludes on a hopeful note: a few days later, Axel reunites with both Rosewood and Taggart who had been keeping watch to ensure his safe recovery and the three share a quiet dinner together, symbolising renewed trust, enduring loyalty, and the promise of new beginnings. To my verdict, I’ll personally give this movie a 9/10 it had everything to feel in a movie ranging from family, love, action, and comedy it is a must-see