Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Beverly Hills Cop Axel F review and Space Cadet review reveal which of the two streaming movies is most worth watching.

Beverly Hills Cop Axel F Review — Netflix

It’s hard to believe it’s been 40 years since we first saw Eddie Murphy as the Beverly Hills Cop, and 30 years since the last franchise installment.

Given the way Hollywood has been leaning for the past couple of decades, it’s surprising the franchise hasn’t been revived until now. We have Netflix to thank for the current iteration.

Once again, Murphy (who in no way, shape or form appears to be 40 years older than he was in the original) stars as Detroit detective Axel Foley, who is called back to Beverly Hills to assist his estranged daughter foil a plot that involves drug dealers and dirty cops.

Kevin Bacon, Taylour Paige and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are newest stars added to the cast, while Judge Reinhold, Bronson Pinchot, John Ashton and Paul Reiser return. 

The action scenes are absurdly silly — just the way we like them in a Beverly Hills Cop movie. You were expecting believability? C’mon, where’s your sense of humor?

Okay, so the plot is rather predictable — you know who the villain is the first time you see him. But to be honest, that’s half the fun. The entire Beverly Hills Cop franchise is sort of like cinematic comfort food. You know exactly what you’re going to get when you order it. That’s why you order it, silly.

And then there’s that deliciously 80’s score, slightly updated. If that doesn’t bring back fun and funky memories, nothing will.

It’s the perfect movie to call up on Netflix when politics, the weather, your kids, your job, your social media numbers, whatever, are pressing down on you. The film directed by newbie Mark Malloy and produced by seasoned Jerry Bruckheimer will provide you with a rousing and welcome diversion.

Rated R

1 Hour 55 Minutes

Space Cadet Review — Prime Video

And on Prime Video we have a new movie called Space Cadet

Space Cadet, clearly aimed at the female adolescent crowd, stars Emma Roberts as Tiffany “Rex” Simpson, a quirky but brilliant nerd who always dreamed of going to space, but, for various sad reasons, finds herself gainfully employed as an alligator wrestling bartender.

But everything changes when her best friend trumps up her resume, sends it into NASA’s ultra-competitive astronaut training program, and Rex gets accepted.

To her credit, Rex is unaware that the embellished resume has been submitted, thinking that her “It’s always been my dream” version is what got her in. So she perkily appears for the first day of astronaut training in bedazzled cutoffs, countless strands of crystals, and a teeny tiny tie-dyed tank top.

To say her button down, super achieving, regimented colleagues are not amused is an understatement.

Yet of course she manages to captivate almost all of them, aces most of the highly specialized tests, and finds that her alligator wrestling and bedazzling skills come in quite handy.

Don’t expect top-notch special effects here—some of the props look like they could have been constructed by Rex out of wrapping paper rolls and paper mache.

But it’s all good, clean fun, right? Or is it? In the end, it’s a blingy but off-told story of a pretty, goofy girl who fakes it ’til she makes it and lies her way to the top, dashing the dreams of the more deserving along the way. It’s not a clear path for her, but in these times when authenticity is a shamefully undervalued commodity, I’m not sure that’s a message adolescents need to hear.

1 Hour 50 Minutes

Rated PG-13

Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Beverly Hills Cop Axel F review and Space Cadet review reveal which of the two streaming movies is most worth watching.