Not as amazing on re-watching as when I first saw it, but then that was when I was eleven. Eddie Murphy remains electric and I was knocked out by the support cast: Ronnie Cox and John Ashton have real gravitas as cops, Judge Reinhold is marvellous, Steven Berkoff and Jonathan Adams are first rate villains, plus lovely comic cameos from Bronson Pinchot and Damon Wayans. The only real dud is Lisa Eilbacher, who lacks chemistry with Murphy and just laughs a lot - but her character is a lot more spunky than I remembered (she insists on driving the car, she goes along on the adventures including breaking in, it's she who punches Berkoff at the end enabling her to get away).
John Landis once described the original script as one of the worst he'd ever read; it can't have been that bad - the basic set up is a very strong one, and there's a decent structure which builds stakes (friend turns up, gets killed, Axel starts investigating, cops get on his tail etc etc). Some of the confrontation scenes don't make logical sense (far better to poke around quietly but Murphy confronts Berkoff twice)... however they provide strong comic set piece opportunities. Many of these are structured like improvisation exercises - Eddie Murphy has to get into an office/warehouse/restaurant/hotel; Reinhold and Ashton are killing time in a car.
Martin Brest gives scenes time to breathe which does mean this drags every now and then but also allows the actors to do their stuff. And he keeps plenty of suspense and action in there - this does work as a straight up thriller as well (just not as well as a comedy-thriller).
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