The Golden Child (1986)
Eddie Murphy Is The Chosen One.
So, surprisingly or not I found another movie that I thought I would have done, but in fact through all my checking I have not done. October is around the bend, so I’m still holding off on doing horror this week - but I did find a tale with magic, monsters, and what’s honestly probably a horrible take on another culture that we really didn’t care as much about back in the 80’s because everyone was having too much fun with the beats and the styles. Apologize to your Shirpa friends in advance and get ready for a classic Murphy drive, tonight we rescue The Golden Child.
Eddie Murphy. I feel like sometimes people forget about him, and the number of movies he was the lead of. Surely, these days people probably think more of his more comedy-centric romps in things like Disney’s The Haunted Mansion or Doctor Dolittle. Back then though, man, he had some pretty darn cool roles - like Axel from Beverly Hills Cop. Sure, comedy has always been in there but he did have some good action too is what I’m saying. Here, we have a bit of an action adventure in which an LA man who finds lost kids finds himself embroiled in a Tibetan prophecy of good versus evil. Aiding in his quest is a no-nonsense woman with probably more skill then the main, with the evil man trying to run the clock and destroy all good from the world in one seemingly simple task of just killing a kid. Watch as the threads of the mystery unfold as our reluctant hero tracks down what could be his most important rescue yet.
You might have noticed from the kind of wonky blurb there that it was really a pretty simple and straight forward plot. That’s fine - keeps you from having to overthink things. Of course, there’s also not really as much mystery as it could have - considering the opening of the movie is literally the kid being shown to have powers, and then getting kidnapped by our main bad and his posse. Still, it does kind of blend the city and foreign mythic feelings very well. Our main character is understandably unbelieving of mostly all the mystical elements until it finally becomes apparent that it’s not just some kind of big joke. The supporting cast also does a wonderful job of playing it straight against his more easy-going “this is a big joke” attitude. It works surprisingly well, although one should really only expect any sort of character advancement out of the main when it comes to the belief in the mystic - which isn’t to say he really feels like he has a big change of character either. He starts the movie as a guy with (mostly) good intentions and some jagged edges, and ends in much the same place.
Of course, the characters are also where the thing might show it’s age the most. There’s plenty of lines in here that in the current climate people would probably be offended by. Scenes too for that matter. Despite our female lead being quite kick-butt, that can be quickly invalidated by some due to a few scenes involving the more “13” of the pg-13 rating, and the fact her skills are quickly relegated to “might be dead” by the climax so she couldn’t just single-handedly take out all the bad guys.For me - the casual dude just wanting to have a fun romp with some fantasy elements - it’s not a super egregious slap across the face, but when it comes down to it I’m not offended by a lot of things others are. I would also like to mention to anyone who might be offended by it that it’s Eddy Murphy as the lead with a female sidekick, with the classic devil-worshiping white man and his mutant-like crew as villains. I don’t feel like they really were hard into trying to be offensive in as much as it’s just a thing of it’s times.
Cut away from me one more time…
The actors do a good job. Something about Murphy’s chuckle can always bring a smile to one’s face. The fun of his more comedic play against so many serious characters also brings a good amount of entertainment - but even if he’s at times up for laughs, Murphy does a good job of reigning it in for when the character needs to be serious, and the interaction between the actors as the movie progresses is quite well done - be it serious or comedic. Even the interaction between the Golden and their captors can be quite entertaining or even somewhat touching at times.
The jokes, of course, will be hit or miss. As alluded to in the “might get offended” segment earlier - I don’t think everyone is going to laugh at the “wet t-shirt” gag. I mean, let’s be real - I’m probably the target audience for it, and although I can appreciate it in that regard I’m still level headed enough to admit that it seems unnecessary for the story. The largest - if not all - of the jokes are largely with Murphy, in no small part probably because everyone else is so serious about their roles and plot. It’s all on purpose of course, and at times it does work great for the laughs when it happens. There’s a bit of slapstick there - but largely it’s more verbal or situational jokes then straight slapstick.
As far as action goes, there’s a bit of it in there. It’s nothing overly impressive but it does liven things up. Most of the more impressive action is done by our female lead when it comes to fights, but our male lead does throw a few punches as well. The final fight is probably the least impressive as far as the fights of the movie, but it is fun. The final fight is also probably the most extensive use of effects work - of which there’s plenty. It holds up surprisingly good if I’m being honest, with plenty of it being stop motion or prosthetic work. I really wouldn’t have thought it would hold up as well as it did, even though it really hasn’t been that long since I’ve last watched this movie - but there are certainly movies around the same time that look even better than this does. Most the effects are also used to help further the enjoyment as opposed to just being there for flashy show as well, so there’s always that bonus.
The gang needs to prep.
At the end of the day, the movie is fun but not for everyone. The 80s where a different time and place - as can be said of a lot of different times - and the media from those times (be it movies, music, or books even) will always have a bit of that in their DNA. Modern sensibilities might not approve of the same things, and in turn it could lessen the enjoyment of the overall product as such. If you can get past that though, you’ll have a fun time with a cast that does good in their roles for a story that’s pretty simple and straight forward.