From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a quick spoiler free film review for you.
Today I'll be reviewing the movie The Golden Child released in 1986.
Starring:
Eddie Murphy, J.L. Reate, Charles Dance
Directed by:
Michael Ritchie
Genre:
Action, Adventure, Comedy
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Rating:
PG-13
Budget:
$25,000,000 (estimated)
Current IMDb Rating When Reviewed:
5.9
The Synopsis is:
Chandler Jarrell is a social worker who is on a case to find a missing girl. The case leads him to the Golden Child who is kidnapped by a supernatural evil.
Before there was Neo from the Matrix franchise, there was Chandler Jarrell, which this film proclaims is THE ONE, to save a Tibetan boy from an evil that that could possibly mean the end of the world.
Right off the bat, this film starts with a groovy synth pop theme, that I just love. I could listen to that all day. Then mixed in are some 80’s rock pop, and heavy metal songs, so it’s that classic 1986 vibe where the 80’s were becoming more exaggerated and ridiculous.
There is an immersion of Asian culture, action adventure, fantasy and comedy! Yes this film is funny, but it’s funny through the situations that Chandler gets himself in since he is a fish out of water even in his own world.
Now speaking of comedy we have to address the Eddie in the room, Eddie Murphy that is. He is probably the number one reason that this film is so beloved by its loyal fans. This is Eddie Murphy at the prime of his powers as a comedian and a little bit on a limitation for the raunchy jokes that he had become famous for. This was a departure for him and there was something very understated about his performance that made Chandler a very likable character.
There are some clear moments that Chandler is a hero and makes you really want to root for his character. Many of the funnier moments for Chandler is when he is dealing with the film’s fantastic villain, Sardo Numspa. Their chemistry is fun to watch.
Sardo is played by one of my favorite late 80’s villain actors, Charles Dance with his fabulous feathered blowout hair do. Wow, that guy has presence in this film and that was mostly what Sardo Numspa does. He shows up in a scene looks around and elegantly says a few words before leaving.
He has one of the best scenes in the film when the wall visibly dissolves and he speaks with a demon from the underworld.
The special effects was very ambitious and at the time it was fun to watch in the 80’s, very imaginative and it was produced by the best in the business, Industrial Light and Magic. In spite of the fact that it doesn’t hold up today, they were all fantastic visual ideas.
There is so much to like about this film, but there are a great deal of faults with the film on the production side. The editing was probably the most obvious problem in the film. There were a lot of weird shots spliced in and didn’t always flow.
The action was very clunky and slow.
The only way to know if you are going to like this one is to see it. I know a lot of people compare it to Big Trouble In Little China because it was and Asian themed fantasy film released in the same year and features a lot of the same actors. To me, the films have that in common similar, but the story and the lead characters couldn’t be more different from one another and I like them both. I’ve often imagined a team up of the two characters for a fun comedic adventure together.
In the 80’s we had a few breakout fantasy films and even though this didn’t do well for a mass audience and even today there are many critics of the film and how surreal it all is.
This is a favorite of mine because of its surrealism.
My Rating:
7.9
That sums up my quick spoiler free review. This is Retro Nerd Girl signing off! Take care movie lovers! I'm off to the next review!
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