Fans of the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise were understandably ecstatic to learn that it was back for a fourth instalment.
After all, Eddie Murphy, who also serves as a producer on the film, reprising his iconic role as Axel Foley, is insanely thrilling.
The new action comedy, which sees Mark Molloy making his directorial debut, boasts all the hallmarks of the previous films. First, Murphy doesn’t look like he aged in the 30-year gap between “Beverly Hills Cop III”, which was released in 1994, and this film.
Aside from the return of Judge Reinhold and John Astron as Billy Rosewood, who is now a private investigator, and Chief John Taggart, respectively, there are a few notable cast additions.
They are Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Detective Bobby Abbott, Taylour Paige as Jane Saunders, who is Axel’s estranged criminal defence attorney daughter, and Kevin Bacon as Captain Cade Grant, who heads the narcotics task force at Beverly Hills Police Department.
In a recent press junket, Bacon unpacked his villainous role while also reflecting on the film’s throwback appeal.
He admitted: “I don’t think about the ‘80s that much, to be honest. This is the first year that it started to come rushing back at me and it’s for a number of reasons.
“First of all, it’s the 40th anniversary of ‘Footloose’. I also did a movie, ‘MaXXXine’. While we were shooting it, everything was created to look exactly like the ‘80s so I was kind of having this weird flashback in that situation.
“In general, I don’t ever feel nostalgic for another era. There are things that I appreciate about an era whether it be the music or thinking about where my life was at, at that time. But I don’t have that much of a rear-view mirror; I’m still mostly looking down the road.”
The story centres on Axel returning to Beverly Hills to help protect his daughter as she is representing a guy accused of killing a cop. His dogged nature sees him kick a hornet’s nest, exposing corruption closer to home.
Working with Murphy for the first time was memorable.
Bacon shared: “I think there were scenes where Eddie was improvising. I don’t remember if I did any. He is a great improviser. Improvising is not my strong suit.
“One of the things that’s fun working with him is you have to stay connected because he could throw anything at you and you have to be ready to react to it.
“He is very, very relaxed. Being relaxed is something that people talked a lot about in acting school when I was 17 years old and I never really understood it that well but I’ve learned over the years that relaxation is the key to good, immediate and believable work.”
He continued: “And Eddie has that. It doesn’t feel like he is trying. He is just being Axel in that situation. There is an immediacy about his work and it is what makes it so charming.
“Of course, you have to have a great comedic mind, which he does, and a great comedic technique. But there is another level to it, which is just kind of being in the character; it was great to witness and get in the ring and do it with him.”
Close to five decades in the industry, Bacon appreciated the synergy when it came to developing his character.
He shared: “We talked a lot about who Grant might be. I felt it was a really collaborative process.
“At this point in my life, I’m mostly interested in jobs where people are interested in my experience, my ideas and my collaborations. That’s not to say, I want to come in and rewrite everything.
“I just want to feel like I’m a part of building that character and that is what I felt like working with Mark.”
Bacon admitted to really enjoying shooting the scene with a stunt driver in the car.
He shared: “I did something that I’ve never done before in a film and that was a scene with a helicopter and a car and I’m driving the car and shooting out of the car at Eddie and Jo in the helicopter.
“And to get the shot of me screaming through traffic, I got into this car that I’ve seen before behind the scenes but I’ve never actually been in one, where there is a stunt driver on the roof of the car operating it. You have no control of the car so it’s a lot of fun but it’s a little bit like, ‘Whoa’.
“It is one of those moments where you go, ‘Wow, I got the coolest job’. It was a lot of fun.”
Of course, as the film’s baddie, his character’s fate is sealed.
He laughed: “If you are going to be in a death scene, it might as well be cool. A good death scene is what leads up to that point. Certainly, you want to make people want you to die.”
∎ “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is streaming on Netflix.