BEVERLY HILLS COP III
A film review by Roger A. Rubio
Copyright 1994 Roger A. Rubio
Starring Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, Hector Elizondo, and
Bronson Pinchot
Directed by John Landis
Uh-oh. The roman numerals are back. I wonder what the next DIE HARD sequel is going to have: 3 or III? How about the next ALIEN movie? (Yes, I heard, they're making another one; but this was through word of mouth, so my sources are not reliable). Will that be ALIEN IV or ALIEN to the fourth power or ALIENESESES? Do people see my point here?
Money. Most sequels coming out these days are *purely* for money. I am sorry to say that, because some of these movies have characters that I would love to see in different situations. But BEVERLY HILLS COP III was barely, if anything, close to a movie with my favorite characters in different situations. It had ANOTHER 48 HRS. written all over it.
Eddie Murphy is, as of late, trying to make a more mature name for himself (or so it would seem). I thought BOOMERANG was a response to a huge guilt trip about BEVERLY HILLS COP II (I don't know how many times he referred to women as bitches in that movie, but it was a lot). ANOTHER 48 HRS. had all the elements of the first movie, but the storyline was rather bland. BEVERLY HILLS COP III suffers from the same ailment.
Murphy looks like he is trying to regain his 80's popularity and gain a mature reputation at the same time. This seems impossible to me. Part of the appeal of Murphy in the 80's (IMHO) was his playfulness and immaturity. He could make any situation hilarious. Nowadays he just seems to watch as the world goes by. The original BEVERLY HILLS COP and 48 HRS. established his popularity as a vulgar yet hilarious force of nature. Now he appears drained. It's too bad, too. Eddie Murphy always made me laugh.
In BEVERLY HILLS COP III, we see sparks of the old Eddie: the trademark smile, that characteristic laugh, a couple of good one-liners. But that's it. COP II was loaded with this kind of stuff; I believe it was what established Eddie as a comic force. Axel Foley was a clever cop; he could get in and out of almost anything. In COP III, there are no clever dodges, none of Eddie's hilarious assessments, none of his snide remarks. In COP II, Axel 'carried' in multi-explosive sound-seeking projectiles into the Beverly Hills Gun Club in order to gain access to the building. I thought that whole scene was hilarious. In COP III, in order to get into Wonderworld, he buys a ticket. That's not Axel! Where's the clever dodge? In COP II, a bartender tells Axel his coke will cost $7 (if I remember correctly). Axel says "I can get blown for seven dollars!" When told the price of admission for Wonderworld, he merely repeats the price. What happend to the old Axel? What happened to the old Eddie, for that matter?
I would consider COP III to be a really good dollar flick, but it is not worth the full price of admission. Keep trying Eddie; you're getting closer, but this one didn't quite do the trick.
THE SNAPMAN
rsnappy@polaris.unm.edu
(Roger A. Rubio)
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