Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

I’m not against remakes, reboots, or sequels, even if they come 30 years later. All I ask is for there to be a reason for any of it to happen.

When this movie was first announced, my hopes were low. But when I saw that the writers behind “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” and “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” were involved, I had a glimmer of hope—one that vanished within the first 10 minutes of the movie.

It felt very much in line with the previous movies, carrying that nostalgia. However, the problem was that it didn’t bring anything new. It didn’t capture what made the first one fun. Instead, it felt like, because it was on Netflix and knew there are already 220 million people who would watch anything, it didn’t really have to make an effort.

This lack of effort also affected Eddie Murphy, who delivers a character once known for pushing the limits. Here, he’s just silly, annoying, and not believable. Even though he doesn’t look like he’s over 60, he certainly gave off that vibe.

Part of the problem is why we keep picking first-time directors who, at least at first glance, have no unique vision or identity to bring to these movies. We need to have these smaller directors take shots at smaller projects where they can take risks, not at big-budget movies whose only objective is to trick people into watching and then quickly forgetting them.

This will be 100% a success for Netflix. People will watch it, but unlike this year’s “Bad Boys” sequel, it doesn’t feel like it will create a hunger for more movies in this franchise. It won’t reboot the power Eddie Murphy once had.

What iconic franchise would you like to see revived?