It’s been 30 years since we last saw Eddie Murphy as the iconic Detroit cop Axel Foley in the rather forgettable “Beverly Hills Cop III.”

That film left most audiences with a bit of a sour taste, a major disappointment for a franchise that featured perhaps one of the 1980s comedic classics and a sequel which become more appreciated than when it was originally released.

That sour taste is finally washed away with Murphy’s return to Foley in “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.” This is a pleasant blast of nostalgia that fans of the series will enjoy –  a nice mix of callbacks with a splash of new additions that help breathe life into a franchise left for dead after the last film.

“Axel F” finds Murphy’s Foley still up to his old tricks in Detroit, chasing bad guys and causing chaos wherever he goes. The latest chase sees old partner and current Detroit chief of police Jeffrey Friedman (Paul Reiser) taking the fall for him by retiring – suggesting to Foley that perhaps its time for him to hang it up too.

At the same time, Foley’s estranged daughter Jane (Taylour Paige), now an attorney in Beverly Hills, takes the case involving potential police corruption. The case puts Jane in jeopardy with Foley heading back to California and some familiar faces still there – Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), now a private investigator, and John Taggert (John Ashton), now the chief of police in Beverly Hills.

The screenplay – credited to Will Beal, Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten – doesn’t stray far from the familiar beats of the previous films with a story that plays a lot like the first two films. You get Murphy cracking jokes amidst the gunfire and chase sequences with the rest of the cast reacting off of him quite well.

Murphy is at the point in his career where it is easy for him to just mail it in, but he seems fully engaged here – with a joyful glee in Foley that was missing in the previous film. 

It’s great to have Reinhold and Ashton back, with Ashton missing from the previous installment, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Kevin Bacon are welcome additions.

The biggest addition however is Paige, previously seen in “Zola.” The dynamic between Paige and Murphy provides a nice touch that hasn’t been a part of the previous three films, giving Foley someone that can match his antics.

That new element mixes quite well with the nostalgia factor, creating a film that doesn’t just build off the legacy of the franchise but manages to get it back on track after the last film’s major misstep.

Fans of the franchise will be pleasantly surprised with a film that was clearly worth the wait. 

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold

Directed by: Mark Molloy

Rating: R for language throughout, violence and some brief drug use

Playing at: Available for streaming on Netflix

Grade: B