For fans of Beverly Hills Cop, ending the Eddie Murphy-led franchise on part three seemed less than favourable.
Despite the film including a cameo from Star Wars’ George Lucas, it excluded one of the main characters, John Taggart, and received lacklustre reviews from fans.
Pic: Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix
Now, not only does John Ashton’s character make a return to the franchise in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, but the film also gives a sly nod to its previous errors.
Chatting to Sky News, Judge Reinhold notes the on-screen recognition alongside his co-star Ashton.
« Do you remember reading that line where [Joseph Gordon-Levitt] references it? He says, ’94 wasn’t a great year for you’ in the movie?
« I didn’t notice that until I saw it [in the script]. That’s funny ».
The cop duo of John Taggart (played by Ashton) and Billy Rosewood (played by Reinhold) are reunited in the Netflix film.
Recreating a moment from the 1985 original, it was the first time Murphy, Reinhold and Ashton shared the screen together since the second film premiered in 1987.
« That was the first time we’d seen each other in a long time. We were two blocks away from the original location in 84. It was wild, » says Reinhold.
« Jerry Bruckheimer was there and the crew, they were especially quiet. It’s like it was kind of spooky for them. We’d walked out of their collective past or out of a book or something because they were so young when they’d seen it ».
He adds: « It feels like when the three of us are together, something good is going to happen. »
Chiming in, Ashton says it felt special for both the cast and crew.
« One crew guy said to me, ‘I was eight years old when the first one came out and seeing you guys back in the car is giving me the chills’. »
Pic: Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix
Newcomers to the cop comedy include Joseph Gordon Levitt as Axel Foley’s new sidekick and Kevin Bacon as the villain, Captain Grant.
‘We all have a little darkness in our soul’
Bacon also takes on a villainous role in his next movie, Maxxxine, which is out just a few days after Beverly Hills Cop.
« They’re both really fun and really, really different. I have a job where I can go and be a slick, well-dressed, well-groomed, you know, smiling jack of a Beverly Hills cop.
« And then a few months later go and be whoever that guy is that they scraped off the bottom of the barrel for Maxxxine. »
He adds: « There is a therapeutic aspect to it for sure, because we all have a little bit of darkness in our soul. »
The original Beverly Hills Cop was first released a year after Bacon’s breakthrough role in the Oscar-nominated Footloose.
Pic: Netflix
The American star says that moment in time felt like a whirlwind to him.
‘Laughing so hard, tears were rolling down my face’
« I was introduced to Beverly Hills in a different way because I had starred in Footloose.
« I’d probably been to California a few times before, but Beverly Hills was something that I was kind of watching from a distance. And, after Footloose came out, people would take me to dinner in Beverly Hills – it was like a little bit different. »
Turning to Beverly Hills Cop, he says Murphy is a force of nature.
« I happened to be on a plane the other day, and I dipped into one of his old comedy specials.
« It just kind of came up on my YouTube feed and I was on this plane trying my best to not disturb the passengers around me. But tears were rolling down my face and I was laughing so hard.
« And it’s funny because I thought to myself, oh, that’s right, Eddie was an incredible, is an incredible comedian. Because, you know, when I go to work with an actor, I think about the scene, you know, of course he’s funny.
« And of course, he’s going to be throwing stuff out there and improvising and everything, but it’s really about relating to him as an actor, not as a funny man. »
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is streaming on Netflix now.
