The Worst Beverly Hills Cop Movie Gets Roasted In Axel

Contains spoilers for "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F"

Hollywood is paved with the bones of movie sequels so bad that they killed the franchises they were a part of, and for a time many thought that "Beverly Hills Cop III" was one of them. Despite riding on the coattails of one of the biggest Eddie Murphy movies of all time, Axel Foley's flat threequel that had him running around a theme park to take down a gang of counterfeiters was the worst of the bunch, no matter how many cameos it threw at audiences.

Thankfully, in Eddie Murphy's comeback as his iconic character in "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F," the film makes sure to hold its hand up and acknowledge what a blunder the previous movie turned out to be.

After wasting no time lying to get ahead of the bad guys (something that happens in every "Beverly Hills Cop" movie), Axel soon finds himself at the desk of the new cop on the scene, Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Clueless about the legend he has in custody, Abbot skims over Foley's case file and learns about Axel's past trips to California, including the one pretty much every fan of the film series would rather forget. "1994? Not your finest hour," Abbot says, skimming through the sheets and making an obvious jab at the lackluster entry. It's been confirmed by Levitt himself to be a joke Murphy was absolutely okay with, given that he feels the same way about his previous turn as Axel.

In an interview with Jake Hamilton, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was asked about the reference that'll no doubt get a giggle from some audience members and admitted that the film's frontman was fine with its inclusion. Regarding the third film's less-than-stellar legacy, Levitt admitted, "A lot of people [like it] and a lot of people don't. I'll tell you who doesn't like it...Eddie Murphy."

Over the years, Murphy has spoken openly about the threequel which, understandably, left him hesitant to ever put on the Detroit jacket a fourth time. Speaking to Playboy in 2015, Murphy didn't hold back when he discussed the prospect of reprising the role. "That movie has to be right. The third 'Beverly Hills Cop' was garbage. Those movies, when I travel overseas, people say, 'Hey, Beverly Hills Cop! Axel Foley!' They call me that s**t," the actor said, acknowledging his character's enduring popularity. "All the movies I've done, and they call me that. If we do that movie, it has to be right. Not just thrown together to get a big check. I don't need any more of those."

As for Levitt, the actor said that he hasn't seen "Beverly Hills Cop 3," and he doesn't plan to check it off the list any time soon given Murphy's view on it. "He speaks openly about not liking that movie and I will openly admit, I have not seen part three, and when I told him that he was like, 'See! See!'"