Hey, y’all! As I mentioned a few posts ago, I was gone for a while for a multitude of reasons, one of which was vacations. July is my birthday month, and part of my month-long celebration not only included fun trips and outings, but also watching a ton of new movies. I wanted to review all the great flicks I watched last month for a while, but…stuff kept happening. Stuff that I felt the need to report on right away. Now that things have calmed down (a tad), I can get to the post that I’ve been wanting to share for a hot minute now. After all the crazy political news out there right now, I’m more than happy to post about something fun and happy for a change, so let’s do this!

Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Four years after the last installment of the Bad Boys franchise, detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett have returned! This time, Mike and Marcus are dealing with a baddie (Eric Dane aka Dr. McSteamy from Grey’s Anatomy) who’s framing the late Captain Conrad Howard (hilariously played by Joe Pantaliano) as being an associate of a drug cartel. As Mike and Marcus work to clear their beloved captain’s name, they find themselves being framed as corrupt cops and must turn to Mike’s son, Armando (Jacob Scipio), for assistance.

As usual with flicks in the Bad Boys franchise, this movie slaps. I enjoyed it more than Bad Boys for Life (the continuity errors in that film irked me). I remember someone on YouTube—Jeremy Jahns, I think— commenting that the Bad Boys franchise has been going on as long as Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible films, and it hit me that that’s actually true. If I’m being completely honest, it’s older than the Mission Impossible series. The first Bad Boys film was released in 1995, when I was 13. I just turned 43. Nonetheless, Martin and Will prove they still got it after nearly 30 yrs. of kickin’ ass (damn, I’m old). The movie was action packed and all the jokes landed. Every one kept saying that Reggie was the standout character this time around, and they didn’t lie (no spoilers, just check it out)! I also loved how this go around, Mike was the cautious one due to getting older and having a bit more to lose, while Marcus was more spontaneous and willing to take risks after surviving a serious health scare. The only thing I didn’t care for is that a long-time franchise character was killed this go ’round, and Theresa Randle didn’t return to reprise her role as Marcus’s wifey. No offense to Tasha Smith, but Theresa held that role down for ages. Other than that, the movie was the bomb (yes, I said “the bomb.” Showing my age…again)! Check it out!

MaXXXine

MaXXXine takes place seven years after the events of X, and we see that Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) is now in Hollywood and on the brink of making it to the big time as she always dreamed. However, her dreams are put in jeopardy when her friends and co-workers are turning up brutally murdered. Not only that, but she has a slimy private investigator (Kevin Bacon) on her heels, blaming her for the grisly murders that occurred back in 1978. Is Maxine’s past catching up with her?

I know I haven’t mentioned it before, but I became a fan of the X franchise sometime around 2022, so when I caught wind that the third installment to the series was being released just in time for my birthday vacay, I knew I wanted to see it. On a slight side note, we took two back-to-back trips to see Bad Boys: Ride or Die and MaXXXine during my vacation. I loved it. Plus, the Pointe 14 multiplex in Wilmington, NC was boss! For me, MaXXXine was the weakest movie in the X franchise, but that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy it (in my opinion the order from best to least goes in the same order the movies premiered in: X, Pearl, then MaXXXine). MaXXXine was extremely entertaining, and my girl proved once again how badass she is. I especially liked a certain scene where Maxine stood up to a creep she encounters after work (no spoilers). Even though I liked X and Pearl a bit more, I still had a good ol’ funky time watching this flick while sipping my moscato (the Pointe 14 served wine!). If you’re a fan of the X series, you definitely wanna see how the trilogy ends.

By the way, I have a funny story: My mom got mad at me because I “tricked her” by not telling her that Maxine and Pearl were both played by Mia Goth (my mom was repulsed by Pearl, which boggles my mind, seeing as she’s the queen of horror films). Hell, I thought that was common knowledge at this point.

The Beekeeper

In The Beekeeper, Jason Statham stars as a mysterious man named Adam Clay who lives on a farm and—you guessed it—cares for honeybees, all while living a quiet life with his landlady (Phylicia Rashad). However, when the sweet woman commits suicide after becoming the victim of a vicious social engineering scam, it’s revealed that the enigmatic gentleman was once a part of an ultra-deadly secret government assassination team known as The Beekeepers. Now Adam wants justice…in the form of blood.

I kept seeing ads for this movie pop up on my Fire Stick home page, and after my mom watched the first few minutes of it, she recommended it to me…and I’m so glad she did. This movie left no damn crumbs. It was exciting, hilarious, and at some points it was even sad. Jason Statham hasn’t lost a thing. This man was kickin’ ass and takin’ names from start to finish. You could argue that maybe he was a bit too unstoppable in The Beekeeper. After all (slight spoiler alert), he’s barely wounded when he goes up against any of the bad guys. However, considering how fun this movie is and the fact that The Beekeepers are supposed to the baddest of the badasses, that that didn’t bother me one bit. When y’all have some free time, PLEASE watch this gem.

Trigger Warning

Trigger Warning tells the story of CIA operative Parker (Jessica Alba), who returns to her hometown after learning of her father’s tragic demise. As soon as Parker arrives in town, she realizes that her father’s death was no accident. Parker begins to suspect a local gang of thugs behind the murder and uncovers corruption that runs deep into the political corners of the municipality. To get to the bottom of what happened to her dad, Parker opts to kick ass and take names.

I hadn’t really seen Jessica Alba since LA’s Finest went off the air (a short-lived spinoff series from the Bad Boys franchise, coincidentally), and it had been years since I watched her in anything before that. I’m noticing that Ms. Jessica is starting to make a comeback into film/TV, and she’s doing it in a major way. Just like the other movies I reviewed before in this post, Trigger Warning was a lot of fun to watch. Jessica didn’t come to play in this movie; she whupped ass just as much as Jason Statham did in The Beekeeper. If I’m being real, Trigger Warning did have a bit of a low-budget type feel to it, but at the same time, it didn’t take away from the film at all. As an extra added bonus, Anthony Michael Hall is in the film, playing an evil-ass (low-key racist) senator, and he delivers. Add this one to your list of popcorn flicks.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Axel Foley is back! In this latest installment in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, Axel is called back to sunny California after learning that his estranged daughter, Jane Saunders (Taylour Paige), is threatened when taking on a particular client and BFF Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) has come up missing while investigating the client’s case. Despite their differences, Axel and Jane team up to find Billy and figure out who’s framing her client. The only thing is, the malfeasance appears to be coming from the heart of the Beverly Hills police department. Will Axel and Jane solve the case or die trying?

Y’all sit tight. This review is going to be longer than the others. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “You didn’t like the movie!” No, I promise it’s not that…but some things about it did irk me. Let me get the good stuff out of the way first.

I enjoyed Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, especially the given title of the film. For you young bucks, “Axel F” is the actual title of the legendary Beverly Hills Cop theme song, so I love that the writers incorporated it in the name of the movie as well. Eddie is still hilarious, and just like Jason Statham, Will Smith, and Martin Lawrence, he proves that he hasn’t lost a thing (I swear I just realized all these action movies I reviewed have a similar theme). It was nice to see the Beverly Hills Cop series alums back doing their thing as well (Judge Reinhold—one of my favorite characters in the series, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, Bronson Pinchot), and my boy Joseph Gordon Levitt was a nice little edition to the cast (BTW, he is still a cutie!). I liked Taylour Paige ever since her days on Hit the Floor, and she did a great job playing Axel’s daughter. Now allow me to speak on what irked me about Axel F.

As you may have guessed, what irritated me about the film was the continuity, or in this case, the lack thereof. The movie reveals that Jane was born around 1991 and was the product of Axel and his unnamed ex-wife. Here’s the the thing: if you go back and watch Beverly Hills Cop III (which isn’t as great as the previous installments, but not as horrible as some folks make it out to be), there’s no mention of Axel ever being married or having a child, and that film takes place circa 1994. That glaring error took me out of the movie, somewhat. I still enjoyed Axel F, but I can’t stand when these movies—in particular, movies that have 20 to 30+ year old gaps between the last film—don’t follow the canon. The Jane and Axel storyline would have worked better for me if Jane was born sometime around 1995 or 1996 and if she was have been the child Axel had with Theresa Randle’s character (she played his potential love interest in Beverly Hills Cop III). I’m starting to believe that Hollywood needs to stop with the whole release-another-sequel-after-three-or-four-decades-have-passed trend that they’re currently on. That only worked with Top Gun: Maverick, and even that movie had a slight continuity error (Goose’s son would be closer to my age as opposed to being a twenty-something).

Also, I didn’t like the fact that Axel was a deadbeat dad. You can say that that’s just me acting on my own daddy issues, but nonetheless, it was a trash part of the storyline. It kind of reminded me of that trash-ass plot of Coming 2 America, which also suffered from continuity errors (among other things). Don’t get me wrong, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F was no where near the dumpster fire Coming 2 America was, but it had some issues, for sure. Another one of those issues is that even though we’re treated to seeing Axel, Billy, and Taggart together again, their scenes together are few and far between. We mostly see Axel working with Jane and Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character. Part of what makes the Beverly Hills Cop franchise special is the chemistry between Axel and his California BFF’s. I was looking forward to seeing all them together, not seeing Axel bicker with his estranged daughter or cringe every time he sees his child show affection toward her ex-boyfriend. At least I was able to enjoy the limited time the trio had together in the movie.

I recommend this film, but at the same time, I have to say that it’s the weakest in the series (yes, even weaker than Beverly Hills Cop III; at least that movie followed the canon and we got a lot of scenes with Axel and Billy. Taggert being MIA hurt Part III). Also, the trend of 30 yr. sequels may need to come to an end. Either that, or the folks that insist on making them need to go back and watch the earlier films. Jeez.

—Written by Nadiya

So what did you think about my summer movie reviews? Is there anything you would’ve liked to see on the list? Did you agree with any of my thoughts? Which movie featured in this post was your favorite? Which was your least favorite? What movie do you want to see this summer? Is there a movie you enjoyed this summer that wasn’t included in my reviews? Let me know in the comments section!