Returning To The Scene Of The Crime

 God help me. 

I still haven't gotten out to the cinema to take in the new Martin Scorsese film. It took a lot of cajoling form my wife to get out the door to take in the newest offering from Marvel Studios, which has always been and event of sorts for our family. My last trip to the theater was for the feel-good soccer film from Taika Waititi. A pleasant enough diversion, but none of them gave me the low-grade chills I experienced from the most recent trailer I watched.

For Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.  

I have watched the first entry into this soon-to-be trilogy countless times. It occupies the same vast region of my brain that stores quotes from Caddyshack and Animal House. Back in 1984 this was still a fertile spot for growing and harvesting memories. Eddie Murphy took his place in my mind alongside Chevy Chase and John Belushi. Working in a video store only cemented this fixation, allowing me repeat viewings to supplement those communal stops at the local cineplex. 

When Beverly Hills Cop 2 opened, I was there on the first weekend, ready to lay down my hard-earned dollars on a ticket. Or two. I was ready for more. 

By the time the third installment showed up, I didn't flinch. I had already begun to smell the stink coming off the sequel machine, having survived the odd-numbered Star Trek films, and feeling only the slightest bit of relief from Indiana Jones coming back for that Last Crusade. I eventually caught up to Detective Foley's trip to save an amusement park on cable. It felt a lot like an episode of Scooby-Doo, featuring a very tired Eddie Murphy. 

So why would I get all worked up about yet another sequel? Perhaps it has something to do with getting the band back together, though the abysmal second Blues Brothers should have disabused me from this notion for all time. More likely it grabbed me by the lapels and screamed, "Remember how easy it used to be to be excited about a movie?" What new fish-out-of-water japes can be made at this point? Seeing this all come together under the auspices of Netflix? Maybe I felt the warm satisfaction of catching Act Four on the big screen. The one in my living room.

And this one has Kevin Bacon in it. Kevin Bacon was in Animal House. 

How could this go wrong?