hyped garbage

Don't Believe the Hype

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The movie is wildly uneven but lively and timely - in its own surreal way

Plot; A man who specializes in finding missing children is tasked with recovering "The Golden Child", a young boy who is prophesized to be the savior of mankind.This is a weird movie. And also terrible. This is a weird and terrible movie. With star Eddie Murphy coming off of the smash hit Beverly Hills Cop, it's no surprise that he and director Michael Ritchie more or less try to make this Beverly Hills Monk, with Murphy essentially porting over his Axel Foley character in all but name. Unfortunately the material here is vastly inferior, and even Murphy's shtick isn't enough to spackle over this disjointed mess of a movie.

I have a lot of love for 80's fantasy/action/comedy classic The Golden Child. The film is pretty unique and the only movie that I have seen that resembles this somewhat is John Carpenter's Big Trouble In Little China and shares some of the same cast as well(James Hong, Victor Wong,etc). The Golden Child is much more of a comedy and Eddie Murphy is in top form here, in one of his strangest, but funniest movies. He does an awesome job as leading man here and delivers as both man of action and comedic superstar. Eddie gives one of his coolest performances here and delivers hilarious one liners while fighting the forces of evil. The film looks great and moves at a fast pace. The Golden Child is an 80's classic and one of my favorites and is excellent entertainment indeed.

Somewhat underrated Eddie Murphy movie with Eddie playing an American social worker recruited by a Tibetan woman to help rescue a kidnapped boy with special powers called the "Golden Child." I remember when this came out it wasn't met with a warm reception, from the critics or myself. In part I think because it wasn't a straight comedy like myself and others had come to expect from Eddie. But also because it wasn't as good as the similar Big Trouble in Little China, which came out the same year. Ironically, this was a bigger box office hit than Big Trouble but the latter has gone on to deservedly earn a cult fandom while Golden Child still has a mixed reputation at best.Eddie Murphy is pretty good here and seems to be having a fun time. Charlotte Lewis is fine, performance-wise and looks-wise. Charles Dance is an enjoyable villain. The scene stealer here is Victor Wong, who was also in Big Trouble in Little China. The special effects are charming in that special way '80s effects often were. Love the Pepsi can dance scene. Some cheesy stuff in this movie for sure but, for the most part, it's pretty entertaining. If you like '80s movies you should find something to like with this. It's got action, comedy, and a little bit of fantasy all mixed together. It's not what I would call a classic but it is fun.

Tibet, a young boy with mystical abilities, demonstrates his power by reviving a dead bird, which is to become a constant companion. However, a band of villains break into the hidden temple and takes the boy away. Some time afterwards, a young woman named Kee Nang watches a TV show in which Chandler Jarrell, a social worker looking for a missing child.She tells him that he is the chosen one, destined to save the child, and be the Saviour of all mankind. But Jarrell disbelieves the mysticism, but finds more and more evidence of demon worship as he starts investigating.....This was one of Murphys last films where he was classed untouchable. Every film he starred in before this was box office gold, and this film is basically Axel Foley in a silly hat. and it works for the most part, until you relate it to Big Trouble In Little China.The film goes down the same route as that one, melding Indiana Jines adventure, with constant homages to Asian movies of yesteryear.Murphy is as good as always, funny and with bags of improv, but the film has dated badly, and doesn't seem as good as when first saw in the late eighties.But it's all flashily made, another showcase for the star, which gets a little lost whenever he is not on screen, and quite a dark film for younger viewers.It's still watchable fluff though, but I feel if this were remade today, with another star, it wouldn't have the oomph factor it did back in the day.