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Beverly Hills Cop 2 and 3

• Sequel

- The trick to a good sequel is to truly understand the kernel of the original and what made it tick. The first Beverly Hills Cop was not an action movie at its core, but a fish-out-of-water story- a tough, wise-cracking, black cop from Detroit who goes to white, by-the-books Beverly Hills. All the details of the story just elaborate and dress this kernel.

So knowing that the success of the original was placing this character out of his element should’ve told the filmmakers that the sequel needed to put him in another strange environement- perhaps a small hicktown or foreign city. Since the original familiarized Axel Foley with Beverly Hills, putting him back there for the sequel means he’s no longer a fish-out-of-water, which means the foundation is no longer fresh and funny.

Even the action rule of sequels- giving the hero a similar adventure under different circumstances- should’ve told the producers not to send Axel back to Beverly Hills. It’s like Die Hard 2 in an office high-rise.

- I didn’t see Number 3 (where all the action takes place in an amusement park) because the commercial was too painful. You know people aren’t wearing their thinking caps when they move from one genre- the original’s fish-out-of-water- to another- action in one location.

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