May
29
I was browsing the DVDs at Amoeba Music yesterday and lingered over the “Beverly Hills Cop” three-disc set. I ended up not buying it, and it’s probably a good thing I didn’t. With the announcement of another “Beverly Hills Cop” film, there will doubtless be a double-dip of the first three films within the next two years to pimp movie four.
I’m glad they’re making another one. I’ve been seeing posters up in bus shelters for “Meet Dave” lately and wondering just what in the hell happened to Eddie Murphy. He’s softened as he’s gotten older. His days of offending Bill Cosby with his profane concert films have long since passed. He’s retired his leather jumpsuits and carved out a niche for himself as a hapless CGI donkey in the “Shrek” series. But I miss the young Eddie Murphy. He’s since disappeared into one too many fat suits and reemerged as someone else. He needs to bring back that laugh.
The first two “Beverly Hills Cop” movies aren’t classics — yes, even the second one — for any reason other than Murphy’s presence. They’re passable action movies at best. What makes them so watchable is Murphy firing on all cylinders. He’s not buried under gobs of latex or voicing some goofy cartoon sidekick. I want the fourth film to be his return to form.
Brett Ratner’s directing. He has no style to speak of, no “vision” on display; he’s the very definition of a studio hack. He points the camera at the actors and allows them do their thing. I think that can work in Murphy’s favor. Let him cut loose. The third film is by far the weakest of the series because Murphy is so dialed down. I want an Eddie Murphy that goes to 11. And the sooner those double-dips hit DVD shelves, the better.
-Brad Lohan
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