Summary
The Rotten Tomatoes score forBeverly Hills Cop: Axel Fis the best of the franchise since the original. Released in 1984, the original Beverly Hills Cop introduced Murphy’s iconic Axel Foley character to the world in a hilarious and action-packed style.The classic original film, which is available to stream on Netflixalong with the newly releasedBeverly Hills Cop: Axel F, earned a Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 82% and an audience score of 82%. To this day, the originalBeverly Hills Copremains one of the most celebrated and iconic comedies of Eddie Murphy’s career.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Fhas dominated streaming chartsupon its July 31, 2025, debut on Netflix, earning 41 million views in just a matter of days. Based on its Rotten Tomatoes scores alone, the long-awaited fourth installment oftheBeverly Hills Copsfranchiseis the second-most celebrated movie in the entire series. The instant success ofBeverly Hills Cop: Axel Falready has viewers wondering what’s in store for apotentialBeverly Hills Cop 5. Beverly Hills Copis not the only classic franchise that Murphey is helping to modernize, as he is set tostar in the upcomingPink Pantherremake and the newly announcedShrek 5.
Everything That Happened Between Beverly Hills Cop 3 & Axel F
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F brings Eddie Murphy’s title cop back after a 30-year absence, and a lot has happened in Axel’s life since the third film.
All Beverly Hills Cop Movies' Rotten Tomatoes Scores Compared (Critics & Audiences)
The original is the most celebrated of the original trilogy by a longshot
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, released four decades after the original, is easily the best sequel of the franchise.
The originalBeverly Hills Copreceived the most universal acclaim from critics and audiences alikeof the entire franchise. Unfortunately, the quality and success of the movies steadily progressed as they rounded out the original trilogy, falling to a critic score of just 11% and an audience score of 35% after the original received an 82% in both categories. The sequel was considered good but not great and ended up getting mixed reviews from critics and only a slightly positive audience score of 58%.Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, released four decades after the original, is easily the best sequel of the franchise.
RT critic score
RT audience score
82%
66
48%
58%
48
11%
35%
16
66%
80%
55
Murphy was still a rising comedic movie star when the originalBeverly Hills Copcame out, which was just the fourth movie appearance he ever made following his breakout success onSaturday Night Live.Critics praised Murphy’s natural funnyman ability and charmthat made him a one-of-a-kind talent in the originalBeverly Hills Cop.Wendy Ide ofThe Timeswrote in her review,“Much of the film’s appeal stems from the sizzling energy and sharp dialogue, a lot of which was improvised on the spot by Murphy.” The film also benefited from well-utilized supporting characters and sharp direction by Oscar nominee Martin Brest.
Beverly Hills Cop: 10 Best Axel Foley Quotes In All 4 Movies
Beverly Hills Cop’s Axel Foley is one of the most iconic characters in movie history – and he has plenty of hilarious lines across all four films.
Why Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’s Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Is So Good
With only 1000+ ratings, fans were impressed by the long-awaited sequel
The positive reviews from fans and viewers alike agree thatAxel Fis surprisingly funny and enjoyable when it could have easily been terrible.
WhileBeverly Hills Cop: Axel Fisn’t as universally praised by critics as the original movie was, it has a nearly identical audience score of 80%. The score of the newBeverly Hills Copsmovie is also based ona smaller sample size of 1000+ ratings compared to the 250,000+ ratings that the original has garneredover the years on Rotten Tomatoes. This massive difference in the number of ratings likely has something to do with the potentially inflated audience score ofBeverly Hills Cop: Axel F. It’s reasonable to think that many of the new ratings are from fans of the franchise who are excited about a long-awaited sequel.
On the other hand,Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Fhas nearly three times the number of critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoesthan the original does. Nina Metz of theChicago Tribunewrites, “Murphy might be one of the most talented performers of any generation and it’s thrilling to see him back in the role that turned him into a movie star.” Brian Tallerico ofRogerEbert.comwrites, “From the beginning, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is buoyant and playful in a way that legacy sequels usually aren’t allowed to be.” The positive reviews from fans and viewers alike agree thatAxel Fis surprisingly funny and enjoyable when it could have easily been terrible.
10 Best Movies Like Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
There are quite a few similar movies to watch after finishing Netflix’s Eddie Murphy action-comedy legacy sequel Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
What Went Wrong With Beverly Hills Cop’s First Two Sequels?
Neither lived up to the original in any way
Many critics of the 1987Beverly Hills Copsequel disliked the film’s lack of story, pace, and punchlines.Roger Ebertwrote in his 1-star review, “What is comedy? That’s a pretty basic question, I know, but Cop II never thought to ask it.” The criticism of the third film, however, made the critiques of the second movie look like high praise. Peter Travers ofRolling Stonewrote, “Whatever juice is left in the Cop franchise or in the once unstoppable career of Eddie Murphy peters out ignominiously in this poor excuse for a sequel.“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Fturned the franchise around forty years after it started and established that after all this time, Murphy’s still got it.
Beverly Hills Cop 4 Fixes Everything Eddie Murphy Hated About The Last Movie
The new Beverly Hills movie starring Eddie Murphy acknowledges the franchise’s past flaws and makes an effort to get the series back on track.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
Cast
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley is the fourth film in the popular comedy franchise starring Eddie Murphy. Murphy returns as Axel Foley in the Netflix film alongside returning cast members Judge Reinhold and John Ashton and Bronson Pinchot as Serge. Kevin Bacon and Joseph Gordon-Levitt also star in the sequel as new characters.
