In a sentenceEddie Murphy keeps making jokes while Charles Dance waits for someone to take the danger seriously
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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 the full review →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 the full review →Ebert finds the film an unsuccessful comedy-adventure. The review objects to the mismatch between its fantasy-adventure plot and comedy.
Read the full review →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 the full review →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 the full review →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.
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Big Trouble in Little ChinaA sharper blend of martial arts, supernatural danger and comic bewilderment.
A Chinese Ghost StoryA ghostly romance with a firmer hold on comedy, danger and longing.
The MummyAncient curses and a bickering adventure cast find a more dependable rhythm.
Kung Fu Hustle · not reviewed yetThe fighting and the comedy belong together, even at their most extravagant.
The Kid Who Would Be King · not reviewed yetAn unlikely young hero gets an adventure that takes its friendships seriously.
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