Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Taylour Paige also star in the return of the wise-ass Detroit detective, 40 years after the original and 30 years after the last franchise installment.

There are a few valid reasons to make a sequel four decades down the track from an action-comedy blockbuster that left an indelible pop-cultural imprint: 1. A smart script with a completely fresh take on a formulaic genre. 2. Writing that digs into the ways an iconic character known for his rule-breaking irreverence adjusts to the social shifts of a different century. 3. New technology that allows for more explosive thrills. 4. The nostalgia of audiences for whom the original holds enduringly fond memories. 5. Lil Nas X agrees to write and perform a song, spinning rap verses around synthmeister Harold Faltermeyer’s catchy theme tune.

That much is evident even from the poster, which not only returns to the basic elements of the key art for Beverly Hills Cop (dude, gun, car), along with the embellishments for the 1987 sequel (palm trees against a vibrant Hollywood sunset), but also looks like it was designed back then, down to the last airbrushed detail. No trace of the more stylized graphics in the poster for Beverly Hills Cop III, which is in line with this chapter’s general policy of forgetting that franchise death rattle ever happened, aside from a single sly reference.

With a global haul of $316 million, it disproved the widespread belief that major releases led by Black actors had no muscle at the international box office. The film established the mold for buddy cop action-comedies and paved the way for another decade-defining franchise anchored by a loose-cannon detective prone to running right into danger and leaving wreckage in his wake, Lethal Weapon.

But legacy can only take you so far. The closest thing to innovation that screenwriters Will Beall, Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten have come up with is the introduction of a sentimental strain of family friction, with estrangement predictably leading to accountability and warm reconciliation. The rest is a strictly routine pileup of car crashes, shoot-outs and wisecracks.

Even in this later stage of his career, Murphy has demonstrated his screen-acting chops and charisma when he’s given a sturdy script, both in comedy (Dolemite Is My Name) and drama (Dreamgirls). He’s still naturally funny, but without strong writing, he often leans into lazy shtick, which only seems like a three-dimensional performance because Bronson Pinchot’s once-hilarious shtick as swishy Euro queen Serge is so painful.

Axel’s antics have gotten him kicked off a case tracking a crime ring of murderous thieves, so he manipulates gullible junior colleague Mike Woody (Kyle S. More) into taking the lead when a robbery is going down at an ice hockey game. But not before a few gibes about interracial dynamics. Mike, who is white, confesses his surprise that a Black man is into ice hockey and Axel makes him squirm over his stereotyping assumption. Axel mimics his stammering apology, but he’s quick to clarify that Mike doing the reverse would be “wildly offensive.”

Neither the script nor the actors make too much of this bit and a little more of this cultural repositioning of Axel might have given the movie a more contemporary edge. Mostly, the scene serves as a prelude to signature Axel mayhem as he pursues the criminals behind the wheel of a snow-plow truck, destroying enough private and city property to infuriate his supervisor, Jeffrey Friedman (Paul Reiser), who has one foot out the door to retirement.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Axel’s estranged daughter Jane (Taylour Paige), a criminal defense attorney at a high-powered Beverly Hills firm, takes on the pro bono case of low-level drug mule Sam Enriquez (Damien Diaz), whom she believes was framed as a cop killer. When masked thugs give her a violent warning to drop the case, Axel’s old BHPD buddy Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), who’s now off the force and working as a private detective, calls to let his pal know his daughter is in danger. Billy feels responsible, having persuaded Jane to take the case; Axel is on the next flight to L.A.