‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ reloads with Eddie Murphy in his ‘encores for streaming’ phase

(CNN) —& “Beverly Hills Cop” spawned a trio of movies, but more significantly, the 1984 film capped off a string of hits (after “48 Hrs.” and “Trading Places”) that launched& Eddie Murphy& into the movie-star stratosphere. As Murphy moves into the encores-for-streaming phase of his career (see& “Coming 2 America”), enter “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” which features enough unapologetic nostalgia (cue the music) to power through its flat spots. The fact that the film is premiering via Netflix, as opposed to theaters, might warrant some second-guessing given the box-office numbers that the latest& “Bad Boys”& sequel has delivered, but that’s a debate for another day. From the get-go, the star appears up to the task as he slides back into a role to which he said goodbye 30 years ago, and introduced a decade before that. As with “Coming 2 America,” “Alex F” uses a next-generation hook to get into the story and create the excuse to bring Murphy’s Axel Foley from Detroit (after an introductory action sequence that goes on a bit too long) back to Beverly Hills, reuniting him with lots of familiar faces. In this case, he’s summoned by Billy (Judge Reinhold) to help Axel’s estranged...