Golden Child
Eddie Murphy had spent the first half of The 1980s starring in films that were quickly earning the titles of âinstant classicsâ, films that not only made a ton of money at the box office, but were legitimately funny on top of that, funny enough that it was already no secret at the time of their release that they would remain benchmarks of cinematic comedy for decades to come. But there was only one chink in Murphyâs armor or at least in the minds of some people in that these early movies of his (as was also the case with his standup routines) relied heavily on profanity in its dialogue, much of which would come from the mouth of Murphy himself and would result in his early classic films being quickly slapped with an R rating by The MPAA, leading many to feel that Murphy was perhaps incapable of toning it down a couple of notches in order to be able to pass muster as being more of a PG-13 type movie hero (which is always considered the more desirable type in addition to being more profitable). Keeping in mind the fact that Murphy had more than proven himself to be a box office moneymaker in these R rated films, in 1986 he embarked on the biggest risk of his career, that of playing the hero not only in a more family friendly PG-13 rated film, but in a film that in many ways would take a cue from Indiana Jones as being a more exotic type of fantasy adventure, one where Murphy himself would either sink or swim based solely on his ability to adapt to this more unusual environment all while retaining his own screen persona and still managing to be funny on top of that. And that he actually managed to do with astounding ease, so much so that when one looks at the history of this very project itself in Hollywood prior to being made, the realization that this concept as originally planned (to be played straight faced, solemn and very serious) would have wound up falling completely flat on its face due simply to the sheer absurdity of the material, a mashup of Far East mysticism revolving around a fictional Messiah character who must be rescued with the proposed casting of Mel Gibson in the lead role. But with Murphy in there instead rolling with the punches and at times playing the role of a likable skeptic so acutely that he deftly punctures any kind of bloated pretentiousness that the story may have had, the whole thing coasts along breezily on the basis of his charm with the most offensive profanity being along the lines of âshitâ and âassâ and not even one F word anywhere in sight, much of which is brought along by veteran director Michael Ritchie (best described as a Hollywood journeyman with enough successful films to his resume to garner some serious respect). The film starts well enough along what appears to be a epic type adventure story with the title character (J.L. Reate, who was a young girl playing whom is referred to as a boy) sitting in a Tibetan temple performing various small miracles for the monks in attendance (including bringing birds back to life with merely a touch) when the place is set upon by a band of marauders who kill all of the pacifist monks and lock The Child in a special cage to bring him along with them. Turns out that their intent is to kill The Child (who cannot be killed by conventional means) when the time, place and situation is right and in doing so bring darkness upon the world. From this ornate opening we then cut to the streets of Los Angeles where we meet Murphyâs Chandler Jarrell, a self professed âfinder of lost childrenâ (although whether he is a paid professional in this line of work or rather a self financed crusader is never made clear) whom it turns out according to the tea leaves of Far East religious beliefs, is actually âThe Chosen Oneâ, a prophesized figure whose destiny it is to track down and rescue The Golden Child from the forces of darkness (which of course means that The Childâs very kidnapping and imperiled state was also predicted thousands of years ago as well). Even more interesting is the fact that unlike the numerous other characters in the story who have a strong grasp and / or command of the supernatural elements at play, Murphyâs status as being The Chosen One is dependent upon the fact that he is but an ordinary man with no real special powers or abilities other than the fact that he perfectly fits the foretold description of who The Chosen One would turn out to be. When approached with this revelation by a beautiful emissary of the monastery (Charlotte Lewis), Murphy immediately laughs at her and even suggests that she seek psychological help, thus establishing the very engaging idea that the more mumbo jumbo that he (and the viewer) is fed, the more that he will laugh much of it off and make light of it, bringing the film itself much closer to being in relation with Ghostbusters, a story that saw its main characters face off with an unspeakable, ageless, supernatural evil but yet still retain their sense of humor so as to laugh at whatever otherworldly challenges they would have to face. Murphy however, is still working on his own case which is of personal interest, a missing (and now found dead) teenage girl whom it turns out much to his surprise is directly connected to the case of The Golden Child (having been flown to LA to be held in a more secure facility). With Lewis along as his sidekick explaining the bizarre rules of engagement in her secret world, Murphy draws closer and closer to the truth which includes him heading out to Tibet himself and encountering the religious leader of The Golden Child movement, wonderfully played by Victor Wong in a refreshingly off kilter performance that not only works because it is the exact opposite of what one would expect that character to be, but also because it gives another cast member a chance to step in and exchange some real comic zinger moments with Murphy himself (since the rest of the cast plays it pretty straight and relies on Murphy to play off of them), playing a mystical old wise man who lovingly gives Murphy the nickname âAsswipeâ even as he confides in Lewis how impressed he is by such an obviously good and likable person being The Chosen One. Wong just about steals the movie simply by realizing that he is in a comedy and is rightfully playing his role for laughs, but the rest of the lineup isnât too shabby either, most notably Charles Dance as the main villain (Sardo Numspa) who orchestrated the kidnapping of The Child and seems to be a demon in human form (one who is definitely acting at the behest of The Devil), trying to match wits with Murphy and being deftly offset by Murphyâs almost complete lack of neither fear nor awe by his presence, something which in its own right generates its fair share of laughs. Thereâs also the rather offbeat casting of Randall âTexâ Cobb as his main henchman and another Asian character acting legend in James Hong as the point man for the rescue operation in LAâs Chinatown. In the ingenue role of the sidekick, Lewis shows poise but little else, nicely realizing that Murphy has become infatuated with her and using it to gently manipulate him into going forward with the mission even as her acting (and screen presence) seems to falter at times and probably explains why her own career pretty much dried up to the point to where whenever she DID appear in a movie, she would almost always be referred to as âthe chick from Golden Childâ. As for The Child, the film smartly portrays the character in a pretty straightforward manner as to keep at least that one story aspect on a serious note, never overexplaining either The Childâs full meaning or abilities other than what we see in front of us onscreen (including using the power of touch to turn evil people into good ones as if magically curing them of whatever pain or trauma that made them evil to begin with) and only when finally paired towards the end with Murphy himself do we get some lightly comedic bits that are played off well (while driving at full speed to escape a frightening monster, a panicked Murphy looks down at the still calm and serene Child in the passenger seat and quips âWhat, did somebody just give you a Valium or something??â). Overall, the film contains its share of both amusing charm and thrilling moments as even with rumors that the original version of the film with Murphy was actually more deadly serious and required reshoots with more humorous bits, it all worked out for the best as Murphyâs PG-13 brand of humor managed to take a ridiculous premise and turn it into another one of his 80s classics as part of his perfect record from that decadeâŚ
9/10