Eddie Murphy Knows Exactly What Went Wrong With Beverly Hills Cop 3

Did Eddie Murphy really need to make "Beverly Hills Cop III" in 1994? It depends on how you view his 1992 and just how down you think he was before he made his purported comeback that year with "Boomerang." The Reginald Hudlin-directed romantic comedy returned Murphy to critical favor, but, commercially, its $70 million domestic gross was less than the $80 million take of "Another 48 Hrs.," which was the disappointment that hastened the need for Murphy's return-to-form (even though it and "Boomerang" both received A- Cinemascores). Murphy's other 1992 effort, "The Distinguished Gentleman," was a legit misstep dogged by poor reviews and a paltry $47 million domestic gross.

Aside from "The Distinguished Gentleman" (an out-of-character, PG-13 Beltway farce that straitjacketed Murphy for most of its runtime), Murphy seemed to be in good performance shape coming off "Boomerang" — he just wasn't the launching pad for $100 million-grossing blockbusters that he'd been in the 1980s. Obviously, Murphy and his then home studio, Paramount, were eager to catch fire again, so rather than pour Murphy's comedic genius into something new, they hedged their bets with a third Axel Foley adventure.

"Beverly Hills Cop III" was not the right play. The limp sequel got shredded by critics and topped out at a shockingly weak $43 million gross in the U.S. and Canada. Why did everyone reject the film wholesale? Murphy has an idea (though his memory is a touch foggy).

In an interview with ScreenRant, Murphy succinctly observed:

"The reason 'Beverly Hills Cop III' was soft was because Taggart's not in the movie, and the villain isn't villainous enough, and Axel didn't have any skin in the game." 

What does he mean by "skin" exactly? According to Murphy, "The first movie, Axel's best friend is killed. And the second one, his boss, the Chief, gets killed. And then in the third one, Uncle Dave is in trouble. That's what the movie's about."

Murphy then went on to say that "Beverly Hills Cop III" is about Foley desperately trying to save the Walt Disney-esque Uncle Dave (Alan Young aka Wilbur from "Mr. Ed"), which is partially true. He does try to save the old man's life at one point. But he's wrong about Axel's motivation for taking down the bad guy, Ellis DeWald (Timothy Carhart). And he seemed to have forgotten the plot to "Beverly Hills Cop II" as well (possibly because he doesn't like that one either)!

Contrary to Murphy's recollection, Chief Bogomil (Ronny Cox) gets shot up at the beginning of "Beverly Hills Cop II." He's become Axel's friend since the first movie, but he is not his boss. That would be Chief Inspector Todd (Gil Hill), Foley's perpetually pissed-off mentor who gets murdered by DeWald at the outset of "Beverly Hills Cop III."

So, while Murphy is and always will be a comedy god, he is incorrect about why "Beverly Hills Cop III" lacked zip. It wasn't for lack of motivation on Foley's part, but Murphy's. He just doesn't seem to be having fun in the movie, and that makes watching the film a chore.