The other Eddie Murphy movies they might reboot

Eddie Murphy has now appeared in two of the more prominent dustings off of movies and/or franchises that originated in the 1980s. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F joins Coming 2 America in that regard. In fact, the only other one that immediately comes to mind -- I think the latest Mad Max movies are something different since they don't feature the same actors -- is Bill and Ted Face the Music, so Murphy has been in two-thirds of the movies that profile this way. (There are others, I'm just saying they are not immediately jumping to mind.)

Since both of Murphy's movies have been generally well received, it got me wondering what might be next for reheating in Murphy's catalogue.

But first, a few thoughts on Axel F, which I finished on Friday after overestimating my stamina on Thursday night.

I enjoyed this movie. Perhaps more so than the others mentioned, it is not trying to be an updated Beverly Hills Cop movie, in which the joke is how old Axel Foley interacts with these new-fangled 2020s concepts like social media. In fact, it is trying as much as possible to feel like it was made in the 1980s, including usage of theme songs from both Beverly Hills Cop and its sequel ("The Heat is On" and "Shakedown") and generally mimicking the action beats of a 1980s movie. In fact, it directly mimics a lot of scenes and moments of especially the first BHC movie -- I might not recognize callbacks to the second and third movies, the first of which is the only one I've seen, and only once. And though that sort of fan service can be obnoxious or just insulting, it's fine here.

A lot better than he played Prince Hakeem in Coming 2 America, Murphy really inhabits Axel Foley. I think this is a strength of both his performance and the writing of Foley's dialogue. He's still capable of the verbal diarrhea that is part and parcel to his general persona and a key strategy to confusing whoever he's talking to. He's still capable of raising his voice into righteous outrage when he's trying to embarrass someone into letting him in somewhere. The only thing that disappointed me is that Murphy is either incapable of doing or unwilling to do the old Murphy laugh -- you know the one -- which was one of the things that ingratiated us to him 40 years ago. It may have been 30 years or more since he's done that, so I guess I should not be surprised.

Other quick thoughts:

1) I was pleased to see that John Ashton (Taggart) is still alive, and he's actually in decent shape. But since he's only just now 76, that got me thinking -- this guy was 36 years old in Beverly Hills Cop? That's the most middle-aged-looking 36-year-old I've ever seen.

2) Despite being nine years Ashton's junior, Judge Reinhold (Rosewood) might look nine years older than Ashton. He's still got sort of a baby face, but it looks all punched up by a boxer, like Mickey Rourke.

3) I can't decide what I think about Taylour Paige, who plays Axel's estranged daughter, an attorney. I found Zola, in which she starred, to be highly overrated, and that means she didn't do much for me there. During this movie I went back and forth on whether she has charisma or does not have charisma. By the end I decided I was okay with her.

4) I know Lisa Eilbacher has been retired from acting since 1995, and she wasn't even in the first of the two sequels. But I was kind of hoping to see her turn up here. She didn't for probably the same reason Kelly McGillis didn't show up in Top Gun: Maverick: Hollywood is not kind to aged actresses who have been retired for many years and therefore have not paid special attention to keeping themselves camera ready. (Oh yeah, Top Gun is one of those revived 1980s movies I couldn't think of in the opening paragraph of this piece.) At 68, Eilbacher is McGillis' senior by two years, and retired a lot longer ago than McGillis. (Looking at her credits, it appears McGillis may not actually been retired, but the work has been pretty spotty the past ten years.)

So which Eddie Murphy movie can we expect to be rebooted next?

Yet Another 48 Hrs. - Nick Nolte is still alive! Get him while that's still true!

Trading More Places - See above comment, but about Dan Aykroyd! (Ghostbusters -- another revived 80s franchise.)

The Silver Child - This time it's not golden! 

The Nutty Professor: No Fat Shaming - Woke! 

Dr. Doolittler - He's a miniature doctor who can talk to animals! 

Meet Dave Again - Once was not enough!

Holier Man - This time, he's even more holy! 

Imagine This Also - Way more imaginative than Imagine That! 

Vampire in Brooklyn: Undead Again - Sure! Why not! 

Boomerang Comes Back Around - I don't even remember what Boomerang was about! 

Further Adventures of Pluto Nash - If it didn't work the first time, this can't be any worse!