Eddie Murphy Plays A Sci-Fi James Bond in This Expensive Box Office Flop
The only reason it seems like Eddie Murphy can do no wrong is because Warner Bros. did a pretty good job sweeping The Adventures of Pluto Nash under the rug. But when you consider how much of a critical and commercial flop this science-fiction James Bond knockoff is, it makes sense that its still available to rent and buy on Apple TV+, YouTube, Google Play, and most of the major streaming services.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash has a simple plot involving its titular character trying to save his nightclub. Eddie Murphy’s Pluto Nash is a retired smuggler turned successful business man, and uses his resources to help those around him who are in need.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash, starring Eddie Murphy, is streaming on Apple TV+.
The primary source of conflict comes in the form of Rex Crater, a criminal entrepreneur who wants to buy the club from Nash, and an antagonist who we don’t see until well into the third act.
We spend most of our time watching Eddie Murphy and his robot Bruno run from henchmen while trying to protect Pluto Nash’s sort of love interest, Dina Lake, a lounge singer from Salt Lake City. Set on the moon in the year 2087, one could expect to see some pretty cool future tech, but even upon its release, The Adventures of Pluto Nash had lost the plot, and forgot to set its phasers to “fun.”
On paper, The Adventures of Pluto Nash had potential to be one of the more iconic Eddie Murphy movies. Secret agent parodies were a hot ticket, and the Austin Powers franchise was at the height of its popularity.
With Austin Powers in Goldmember seeing its theatrical release just a couple of months prior to this Eddie Murphy bomb, the public was primed for high-tech misadventures, and bumbling henchmen standing next to shark tanks, ready to get knocked in.
Though Jay Mohr and Randy Quaid do an okay job providing comedic relief, it makes you wonder why a comedy needs comedic relief at all, which goes to show you that Eddie Murphy’s character should have been written funny instead of suave.
The only thing bumbling about The Adventures of Pluto Nash, however, was the screenplay, which was rewritten multiple times. Eddie Murphy thought that Pluto Nash should be written as the straight man, and wanted the script to reflect something that Harrison Ford, or even Sylvester Stallone could star in.
Funnily enough, Sylvester Stallone almost starred in 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop, but was removed from the project after making it too violent, leading to him writing 1986’s Cobra, and Harrison Ford was actually on the short list to play the role of Pluto Nash at one point during the film’s development.
What Eddie Murphy didn’t learn from Beverly Hills Cop is that there needs to be a funny guy, which was why he was able to land the iconic role in the first place. In the case of The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Murphy’s portrayal of the titular character was calm, cool, and collected, which makes for a great drama, but makes you wonder when the jokes are going to roll in.
Though Jay Mohr and Randy Quaid do an okay job providing comedic relief, it makes you wonder why a comedy needs comedic relief at all, which goes to show you that Eddie Murphy’s character should have been written funny instead of suave.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash racked up a $100 million budget, and upon its release was only able to earn back just $7.1 million.
In an ideal world, Eddie Murphy could have and presented himself as a more deadpan Austin Powers in The Adventures of Pluto Nash, but instead we got James Bond on diazepam and his bald robot sidekick, Bruno. The film follows a very specific formula that has proven itself in the past to be fertile ground for riffing on jokes, but for some reason the lead man never leans into the charisma and sense of humor that has worked so well in his previous films.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash racked up a $100 million budget, and upon its release was only able to earn back just $7.1 million. In other words, the film made back seven percent of its budget, which is in line with the five percent critical score it received on Rotten Tomatoes. Though you may not want to watch this Eddie Murphy for obvious reasons, you still might want to take a look, because imagining what could have been actually makes for a decent movie.
Though this ill-fated science-fiction secret agent action spy comedy may not be one of Eddie Murphy’s finest hours, it’s still part of a filmography that should otherwise be celebrated. Sure, The Adventures of Pluto Nash never truly lived up to its potential, but it’s also reassuring to know that even some of the funniest actors we know can swing and miss every once in a while. We’ll always have Coming to America, so we’re willing to give Eddie Murphy a pass on this one.
