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.