The Rotten Tomatoes score for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is 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 Netflix along with the newly released Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, earned a Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 82% and an audience score of 82%. To this day, the original Beverly Hills Cop remains one of the most celebrated and iconic comedies of Eddie Murphy’s career.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F has dominated streaming charts upon its July 5, 2024, 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 of the Beverly Hills Cops franchise is the second-most celebrated movie in the entire series. The instant success of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F already has viewers wondering what’s in store for a potential Beverly Hills Cop 5. Beverly Hills Cop is not the only classic franchise that Murphey is helping to modernize, as he is set to star in the upcoming Pink Panther remake and the newly announced Shrek 5.

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 original Beverly Hills Cop received the most universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike of 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.

Movie
RT critic score
RT audience score
Metacritic

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
82%
82%
66

Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
48%
58%
48

Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)
11%
35%
16

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)
66%
80%
55

Murphy was still a rising comedic movie star when the original Beverly Hills Cop came out, which was just the fourth movie appearance he ever made following his breakout success on Saturday Night Live. Critics praised Murphy’s natural funnyman ability and charm that made him a one-of-a-kind talent in the original Beverly Hills Cop. Wendy Ide of The Times wrote 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.

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 that Axel F is surprisingly funny and enjoyable when it could have easily been terrible.

While Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F isn’t as universally praised by critics as the original movie was, it has a nearly identical audience score of 80%. The score of the new Beverly Hills Cops movie is also based on a smaller sample size of 1000+ ratings compared to the 250,000+ ratings that the original has garnered over the years on Rotten Tomatoes. This massive difference in the number of ratings likely has something to do with the potentially inflated audience score of Beverly 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 F has nearly three times the number of critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes than the original does. Nina Metz of the Chicago Tribune writes, “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 of RogerEbert.com writes, “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 that Axel F is surprisingly funny and enjoyable when it could have easily been terrible.

What Went Wrong With Beverly Hills Cop’s First Two Sequels?

Neither lived up to the original in any way

Many critics of the 1987 Beverly Hills Cop sequel disliked the film’s lack of story, pace, and punchlines. Roger Ebert wrote 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 of Rolling Stone wrote, “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 F turned the franchise around forty years after it started and established that after all this time, Murphy’s still got it.