--- title: "The Golden Child" year: 1986 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-golden-child" fi1m_id: "the-golden-child" imdb_id: "tt0091129" tmdb_id: 10136 wikidata_id: "Q759447" fi1m_score: 42 critics_score: 38 critics_reviews: 7 published: "2026-10-04T19:46:42.773912+00:00" updated: "2026-10-04T19:46:43.310656+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Golden Child (1986) Directed by Michael Ritchie · 1h 34m · MPA PG-13 · Action, Adventure, Comedy ## Identity The Golden Child - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-golden-child - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** the-golden-child - **IMDb ID:** tt0091129 - **TMDB ID:** 10136 - **Wikidata ID:** Q759447 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091129/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/10136, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q759447 **Fi1m score: 42** · Critics 38 from 7 reviews *In a sentence:* Eddie Murphy keeps making jokes while Charles Dance waits for someone to take the danger seriously > Eddie Murphy and Victor Wong briefly get the comedy working, while Charles Dance takes the villain seriously. Their efforts cannot rescue an adventure with too few laughs and too little excitement. ## Synopsis Chandler Jarrell (Eddie Murphy) is the chosen one in a fantasy adventure involving the Golden Child (J.L. Reate) and Kee Nang (Charlotte Lewis). Sardo Numspa (Charles Dance) supplies the villainy as martial arts and mysticism enter a comic thriller. Chandler meets the adventure with quick-fire quips, while Sardo treats his part in it with rather more seriousness. The story puts a wisecracking man among supernatural dangers, bringing action, comedy and fantasy together around the child who gives the film its name. ## Review *The Golden Child* is a poor fit for Eddie Murphy’s comic gifts, despite a handful of exchanges that briefly make it enjoyable. Michael Ritchie directs as though adding a funny man will be enough to make a fantasy adventure funny. Dennis Feldman’s screenplay struggles to make the jokes fit the danger, and neither becomes particularly involving. The film runs for 94 minutes. As Chandler Jarrell, Murphy is asked to keep the comedy going while the adventure supplies mysticism and martial arts. His quick-fire delivery is still a pleasure in itself, but speed does not help when the lines have so little behind them. We laughed during the brief scenes with Victor Wong, because the exchanges give Murphy someone to play against and a reason to listen. Elsewhere, too many remarks interrupt the action without being funny enough to justify the delay. Charles Dance is useful as Sardo Numspa because he commits to being a villain even when the film seems uncertain how much menace it wants. He gives the opposition a seriousness that the rest of the adventure badly needs. His performance also makes us wish the story would allow its dangers to matter for longer. It is frustrating to watch him establish a threat that the comedy promptly weakens. The fantasy looks serviceable, but neither Donald E. Thorin’s photography nor J. Michael Riva’s production design makes it especially inviting. We seldom wanted to spend more time looking around once a joke had finished. The effects add spectacle without making the danger more immediate. They feel like another attraction added to a film already struggling to connect its comic thriller with its mysticism. Richard A. Harris’s editing does little to make the action feel less sluggish. Comedy needs pauses, but the film struggles to distinguish a useful pause from a passage that is simply taking too long. Michel Colombier’s music cannot supply the excitement missing from the staging, however much the adventure needs it. Ritchie has performers capable of holding our attention, yet the stretches between their better moments remain stubbornly flat. A wisecracking hero ought to be good company in a supernatural adventure. We can enjoy a hero’s scepticism and still want him to take the trouble seriously when it reaches him. Here, the script leans so heavily on its star’s ability to amuse that it neglects the reasons for staying interested when a joke misses. Those jokes consequently have to do more work than they should, with little help from the action. Murphy’s ease, Wong’s brief contribution and Dance’s resolve keep this from being wholly joyless. They are not enough to turn a muddled story into a satisfying evening, and the available pleasures are thinly spread. Anyone especially fond of the leading man may accept the wait between laughs. Unless Murphy is reason enough for the evening, we would pass. *Fi1m score 42, published 4 October 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews lean negative, with most critics finding that The Golden Child struggles to make its comedy and fantasy adventure work together. Praise is limited to individual performers rather than the film’s handling of either genre. The Los Angeles Times credits Eddie Murphy’s comic skills and finds brief relief in his scenes with Victor Wong, while Empire singles out Charles Dance as a respectable villain who would suit darker material. The reservations differ more in emphasis than in severity: some reviews focus on incompatible styles, others on weak jokes and muddled storytelling. Radio Times finds that Murphy’s quick-fire delivery falls flat and faults Michael Ritchie’s direction, whereas Variety objects particularly to the special-effects monsters and the mixture of mysticism and sentimentality. The scores span mixed to strongly negative, but the two highest-scored entries have no accessible verdicts, so they offer no confirmed counterargument to the prevailing disappointment. ## Straight answers **Is The Golden Child worth watching?** *The Golden Child* is hard to recommend unless Eddie Murphy is reason enough to watch; we score it 42 out of 100. His brief exchanges with Victor Wong provide some laughs, and Charles Dance brings seriousness to the villain, but the sluggish action and poorly fitted jokes leave too much waiting between pleasures. **How long is The Golden Child, and what is it rated?** *The Golden Child* runs 1h 34m and is rated PG-13 by the MPA in the US. It is an action and adventure film. **Where can I watch The Golden Child in the US?** *The Golden Child* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $4.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How does The Golden Child compare to Big Trouble in Little China?** *The Golden Child* is the weaker choice beside [*Big Trouble in Little China*](https://film.one/film/big-trouble-in-little-china), which we recommend for its sharper blend of martial arts, supernatural danger and comic bewilderment. Both have laboured action, but Kurt Russell’s unqualified hero sustains the comedy in *Big Trouble in Little China*, while Murphy’s quips too often interrupt the danger without earning the laugh. **What should I watch after The Golden Child?** After *The Golden Child*, try [*Big Trouble in Little China*](https://film.one/film/big-trouble-in-little-china) (1986, Fi1m 78): A sharper blend of martial arts, supernatural danger and comic bewilderment. Then [*A Chinese Ghost Story*](https://film.one/film/a-chinese-ghost-story) (1987, Fi1m 82): A ghostly romance with a firmer hold on comedy, danger and longing; and [*The Mummy*](https://film.one/film/the-mummy) (1999, Fi1m 71): Ancient curses and a bickering adventure cast find a more dependable rhythm. ### Reviews we read (7) - **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (64/100, inferred): The page does not expose the review text, so its verdict cannot be confirmed. No specific praise or complaint is available from the accessible content. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/12/movies/screen-golden-child.html) - **Time Out**, CPea (64/100, inferred): The available description presents the film as an attempt to combine martial-arts thrills with a Hollywood comic thriller. The page provides no accessible critic verdict or specific praise or complaint. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-golden-child) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (2/4): Ebert finds the film an unsuccessful comedy-adventure. The review objects to the mismatch between its fantasy-adventure plot and comedy. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-golden-child-1986) - **Radio Times**, John Ferguson (2/5): Ferguson finds the comedy adventure mediocre and says Murphy’s performance cannot save it. He singles out Murphy’s quick-fire quips for falling flat and describes Michael Ritchie’s direction as indifferent. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-ukrx1a/the-golden-child/) - **Empire**, Gavin Bainbridge (20/100, inferred): The critic finds the film an unsuccessful mix of incompatible styles and themes. Charles Dance is singled out as a respectable villain, though the critic thinks he would have suited darker material. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/golden-child-review/) - **Los Angeles Times**, MICHAEL WILMINGTON (15/100, inferred): Wilmington finds the film a flabby disappointment, with jokes that fall flat and action that curdles. He praises Murphy’s comic skills but says the script gives them little to work with, singling out the brief scenes with Victor Wong as an exception. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-12-12-ca-2478-story.html) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (10/100, inferred): The review pans the film as incoherent and an unsuccessful mixture of disparate elements. It particularly objects to the dragged-in special-effects monsters and the story’s muddled combination of mysticism and sentimentality. [Read](https://variety.com/1985/film/reviews/the-golden-child-1200426766/) ## Details - **Director:** Michael Ritchie - **Director:** Michael Ritchie - **Screenplay:** Dennis Feldman - **Cinematography:** Donald E. Thorin - **Editor:** Richard A. Harris - **Music:** Michel Colombier - **Production design:** J. Michael Riva - **Costume design:** Wayne A. Finkelman - **Producer:** Robert D. Wachs, Edward S. Feldman - **Cast:** Eddie Murphy as Chandler Jarrell; Charles Dance as Sardo Numspa; Charlotte Lewis as Kee Nang; J.L. Reate as The Golden Child; Victor Wong as The Old Man; Randall Cobb as Til; James Hong as Doctor Hong; Shakti Chen as Kala - **Runtime:** 1h 34m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13 - **Release (the US):** 12 December 1986 - **Genres:** Action, Adventure, Comedy - **Budget:** $25 million - **Box office:** $80 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7d9PyMIFFY ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: rent $4.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, uhd *Checked 2026-10-04.* Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BG, CA, CH, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, HR, HU, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, NL, NO, NZ, RO, RS, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Big Trouble in Little China* (1986), Fi1m 78: A sharper blend of martial arts, supernatural danger and comic bewilderment. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/big-trouble-in-little-china.md) - *A Chinese Ghost Story* (1987), Fi1m 82: A ghostly romance with a firmer hold on comedy, danger and longing. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-chinese-ghost-story.md) - *The Mummy* (1999), Fi1m 71: Ancient curses and a bickering adventure cast find a more dependable rhythm. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-mummy.md) - *Kung Fu Hustle* (2004): The fighting and the comedy belong together, even at their most extravagant. - *The Kid Who Would Be King* (2019): An unlikely young hero gets an adventure that takes its friendships seriously. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-golden-child