Eddie Murphy needs to shoot off his mouth. It's his best weapon, and the one that's unique to his arsenal. When a movie mostly requires him to shoot off a gun he becomes just another action star, and another talent wasted in lazily miscalculated material.
It has been almost a decade since Murphy appeared in a movie that correctly balanced cheekiness and car chases. As it happened, that was Beverly Hills Cop. Ever since, the comedian has been a loose cannon, rolling aimlessly around on ships variously listing and listless. Beverly Hills Cop II, Murphy's first reprise of Axel Foley, the...