The Golden Child revives a dead bird in Nepal and is kidnapped by the evil Sardo Numspa (Charles Dance). Five days later in L.A., missing kids specialist investigator Chandler Jarrell (Eddie Murphy) is searching for Cheryll Mosley. Kee Nang (Charlotte Lewis) tells him about a 400 year old prediction. The Golden Child's destiny is to save the world and taken to a city of angels. He is to be saved by a man who's no angel and that's Jarrell. Cheryll's murder is linked to the missing Golden Child. In his dream, Sardo Numspa offers Jarrell the child in exchange for the Ajanti Dagger.

Eddie Murphy is doing another wise-cracking detective and he's good at that. He has plenty of fun being sarcastic. The movie itself is inferior. Charlotte Lewis is absolutely beautiful but not the most charismatic. Only Victor Wong is able to take full advantage of Murphy. Their back and forth is fun. A lot of this movie is eye-rolling. The first is probably the annoying TV host. He's set up to be funny but he's annoyingly wrong. Many parts of this movie is like that and comedic moments don't turn out to be funny.

By all means this is not Eddie Murphy's best film, like Beverly Hills Cop, 48 Hours and Trading Places, but he has also done worse, Norbit anyone? But it is one of his most underrated films, perhaps even THE most underrated. By all means it is not perfect, as the story does have its silly and predictable moments, one or two parts in the middle half sag a tad in the pacing and the effects do seem creaky by today's standards, but it is not flat and unfunny like critics make it out to be and although I make every effort not to take IMDb ratings to heart I do think the rating is a disgrace for this film. The Golden Child may be flawed, but it also has its strengths, such as Eddie Murphy's charming performance, funny and smart script(or so I think),a fun performance from Charles Dance, decent direction and agreeable soundtrack. So overall, while it mayn't be to everybody's tastes, I do suggest you at least give The Golden Child a fair chance before judging it so harshly. 7/10 Bethany Cox

A magic-fuelled '80s comedy/adventure hybrid that occupies the same sub-genre as BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA and THE LAST DRAGON. THE GOLDEN CHILD is less spectacular than both of those films – it has fewer special effects than the first and no martial arts like the second – but it proves to be a likable enough film boasting a strong comic turn from Eddie Murphy before he stopped making films for adults.

The story, as it reads, is exceptionally lightweight: Murphy is, for some inexplicable reason, the 'Chosen One' and his job is to rescue the 'Golden Child' from the clutches of evil, personified by Charles Dance in one of those stock British villain-type roles that Hollywood seem to love. There's a magic dagger, an interlude in Tibet and some magical adventures involving the cute shaven-headed kid, but for the most part this is a vehicle for Murphy to show off his comic abilities and he does that admirably.

The movie boasts a rare performance from Charlotte Lewis, a poor actress but quite lovely to watch on screen. There are also two supporting roles for familiar Asian actors in Hollywood, James Hong and Victor Wong, the latter giving a particularly funny turn as a mad mystic. Watch out for Randall "Tex" Cobb, almost unrecognisable beneath Klingon makeup. The special effects have badly dated since the film's initial release, but in a good way: I admit I got a kick out of seeing the various magic bolts, mysterious creatures and climatic scenes involving a demon attack (the demon, incidentally, looks just like the one at the very end of EVIL DEAD 2). THE GOLDEN CHILD is no great shakes but fans of 1980s should nevertheless enjoy it.