HOLLYWOOD IN TOTO: Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Does the (Near) Impossible.

“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” survives an iffy opening sequence, which offers some auto smash-ups and the first of many nods to the franchise (both “The Heat is On” and “Shakedown” are featured early) but doesn’t seem to be above the laid-back silliness of “Beverly Hills Cop III” (1994).

Once this becomes an ensemble piece, we not only harken back to what made the first one so great, but the sharp casting choices sell it.

Murphy is in good form, funny and enthusiastic but willing to play into Foley’s flaws; he’s aided by Paige, the standout from “Zola” (2020) whose unsentimental, no-nonsense take on what could be the film’s most maudlin character is a nice surprise.

So is Levitt, terrific and playful in what could have been just another sidekick. Once we get a look at Kevin Bacon playing Captain Grant, we have an obvious idea who the villain is, but Bacon plays him in shades that suggest a complex, compromised social climber (Foley notes his shoes as a giveaway) and not a mustache-twirling heavy.

It’s fun to see Reinhold and Bronson Pinchot again (though it’s even more forced here than it was in “Beverly Hills Cop III” how Serge is plugged into the story) but the biggest pleasure is the dramatic heft John Ashton still gives as Taggart, filling in for his movie mentor Ronny Cox.

The cast makes this such a pleasure, I didn’t mind that, for all the wild action and good laughs, this is a dialogue-heavy character study as much as it is a legacy sequel (in fact, it’s more satisfying as the former than the latter).

Axel F is no Top Gun: Maverick, but Murphy is great, and if you’ve already got a Netflix subscription, it’s a breezy and fun two hours, with a pretty good supporting cast, and a ton of memberberries from the first two movies. In terms of streaming options in 2024, you could do far worse.