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The worst: "Beverly Hills Cop II" (1987)
After ‘80s-comedy favorite “Beverly Hills Cop” introduced Eddie Murphy’s motor-mouthed, cheerfully irreverent Detroit cop Axel Foley, it was hard to imagine the star-making character could ever headline a truly forgettable film. Cut to the present day, when Foley’s charms have been tarnished by disappointingly routine sequels.
The shooting of Beverly Hills’ chief of police compels Foley to return to the West Coast upper-class haven in “Cop II,” but director Tony Scott (“Top Gun”) listlessly guides the bull-in-a-china-shop antics. Scott saves his energy for an explosive, over-the-top action climax that nevertheless fails to compensate for the lack of solid laughs. The lesson for Hollywood: don’t hire a bombastic action-movie specialist to direct a heavily-anticipated comedy follow-up.
