The 80s seems to have specialised in this time of throw away entertainment. Sure it had its promising moments too; there was an Alien and the first Terminator in there, but this was the decade of the macho, gun-totting, mulleted male. The emphasise of style over content is here for all to see, with the excesses of the 80s for all to see (I'd like to say we have evolved since then but I am really not sure).

Eddie Murphy returns to Beverly Hills again, all smiles and one liners to help the ungrateful local cops out with the 'alphabet robberies' (ooowwwww scary). Shoot-outs, pretty pathetic high speed chases, and illogical trips to a strip joint and the Playboy Mansion follow. On the way we see plenty of the semi-nudity that the 80s seem to specialise in (sorry 80s), and the sickeningly smug Foley (Murphy), the 'psycho' gun-enthusiast Billy (Reinhold), and the hapless Taggart (Ashton) bungle their way to solving the case and saving the day.

Clichés seem to pop out at every turn. The idiotic and constantly angry chief of police, the wise-cracking cop who learned his trade 'on the street', the portrayal of a strong female character as 'that big bitch over there' and the solving of the case after finding a match book (surely that has been used in Scooby Doo before!). The ease with which Murphy's character is able to evade shipment out of the city and fool the local cops is infuriately stupid.

Two lines summed up the unforgivable nature of this film for me. After enduring the latest verbal assault from the local police chief Foley, making light of race relations states supposedly humorously "is it a black thing?". Later in the film after disposing of a key criminal who just happens to be a woman Taggart tuts "Women". Come I know i must be taking this film just a bit too seriously, but there can't be anyone out there who finds awful and insulting one liners like this funny, can there? Ultimately between the distractions of the odd breast and an appearance by Hugh Hefner, an engaging storyline fails to emerge and the viewer is left with the infamous theme tune stuck in his/her head.