Beverly Hills Cop 3 1994

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: The fun of the idea in Cop 3 is the notion of a huge, corny, funny-animal park, with cops and killers running around in the tunnels. But the movie gets drowned in casual brutalism, lazy shtick and telegraphed jokes. Read more

Peter Rainer, Los Angeles Times: It's one of the most cynically engineered sequels ever. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: The movie... isn't nearly as fresh as the first Cop flick was. But I must admit that it's a whole lot more enjoyable than the contemptible crashathon known as Beverly Hills Cop II. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The mix of violence and laughs never gels, the rejoinders are snapless, the pace slack. Read more

Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times: Landis relies on routine action -- and cameos by such noted filmmakers as George Lucas, John Singleton, Martha Coolidge and others -- to hide the fact that there's no engine under his movie's hood. Read more

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine: 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. Read more

Caryn James, New York Times: As surely as if it were a McDonald's or a Burger King, Beverly Hills Cop III is part of a money-making franchise, though this one has been abandoned for so long it has cobwebs on top of cobwebs. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The Eddie Murphy who skulks, swaggers, and -- mostly -- fires guns through Beverly Hills Cop III is like a replicant version of his former self. Read more

Globe and Mail: Like most flicks conceived as marketing vehicles, it's hollow at the core. Read more

Michael Sragow, New Yorker: Steven E. de Souza's script has Foley following a trail of murder and deception into an L. A. amusement park called WonderWorld. The director, John Landis, fails to exploit the possibilities. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: One wonders where the Eddie Murphy of 48 Hours and Trading Places has gone. The irreverence is still there, but there's no verve or freshness. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Whatever juice is left in the Cop franchise or in the once unstoppable career of Eddie Murphy peters out ignominiously in this poor excuse for a sequel. Read more

Time Out: There are germs of interest -- America's theme-park culture and obsession with weapons -- but on the whole Landis aims for the obvious. Read more

Richard Natale, Variety: The third installment of the Beverly Hills Cop series boasts a return to form by Eddie Murphy and a breezy and witty first half. Read more

Joe Brown, Washington Post: The most lackluster entry in the franchise. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: [A] goofy vanity project. Read more