The Golden Child

This movie is just the sort of 'guaranteed' hit that defies studio logic and fails almost just to spite the filmmakers.

Made by Paramount pictures it starring the seemingly unstoppable Eddie Murphy, who had just made a pile of money for the studio with "48 Hours" and "Beverly Hills Cop".

Obviously expensively made, the movie seems to have all the right ingredients for a big hit but fails to satisfy and although moderately successful was, I'm sure, a bit of a financial disappointment for the studio, who were hoping for another Murphy 'cash cow' to fill the coffers with lots of $$$.

And that's probably the root of the problem. Despite a reasonable story, script and good special effects, the movie just 'feels' a little clinical. Murphy has a bunch of funny set pieces which he clearly enjoys and we enjoy... but in between seems a little unispired somehow. Maybe the predictability of the story has a lot to do with it. Another possibility is that the movie was originally intended to be a more serious action piece, but was hastily rewritten to provide Murphy with the scope to do what he does best, with the end result an unsuccessful mixture of the two... in any case the plot unwinds quite predictably -there are very few suprises to be had here folks...

Charles Dance provides a good, but not perfect, villain as "Sardo Numspa" ("Brother Numpsey" to Eddie!) and Charlotte Lewis provides the stunning, but surly, love interest of the piece.

Still, it is an 80's film and the music and filmmaking are all perfect examples of the genre...