This was a very entertaining movie when I first saw it at the theater in the mid '80s. Later, I enjoyed it on VHS. The film featured good music, good action and good humor.
After a hiatus of 5-10 years, I viewed it again in the late '90s and got more annoyed than anything else. By then, I had seen thousands of movies and was starting tired of the "new stereotypes" I was beginning to see with regularity; reverse racism in which the black guy is always smarter than the white guy, for example. In here, it's Murphy smarter than all the white cops, most of whom are pictured as outright stupid. (If the reverse was shown, there would be an uproar.)
It's also one more example - among hundreds in films since the late '60s - in which the renegade (regardless of color) is the only one who can solve cases. The regular law enforcement, from local cops to FBI to CIA, are always featured as bumbling idiots with stupid superiors. It's all getting tiresome.
Murphy had a great run in the '80s, but his act has worn thin and I hadn't heard much from him in years until this year for his supporting role in "Dreamgirls."
After a hiatus of 5-10 years, I viewed it again in the late '90s and got more annoyed than anything else. By then, I had seen thousands of movies and was starting tired of the "new stereotypes" I was beginning to see with regularity; reverse racism in which the black guy is always smarter than the white guy, for example. In here, it's Murphy smarter than all the white cops, most of whom are pictured as outright stupid. (If the reverse was shown, there would be an uproar.)
It's also one more example - among hundreds in films since the late '60s - in which the renegade (regardless of color) is the only one who can solve cases. The regular law enforcement, from local cops to FBI to CIA, are always featured as bumbling idiots with stupid superiors. It's all getting tiresome.
Murphy had a great run in the '80s, but his act has worn thin and I hadn't heard much from him in years until this year for his supporting role in "Dreamgirls."