Use the dagger to kill the child. When a Tibetan boy, the mystical Golden Child (J.L. Reate), is kidnapped by the evil Demon Sardo Numspa (Charles Dance) and his troupe of weird minions, humankind’s fate hangs in the balance. In Los Angeles, the priestess Kee Nang (Charlotte Lewis) seeks the Chosen One, who will save the boy from death. When Nang sees social worker Chandler Jarrell (Eddie Murphy) on television discussing job which focuses on finding missing children, she solicits his expertise, despite his scepticism over being the chosen one. Though Jarrell doesn’t believe in mysticism, his investigation leads him to some flabbergasting evidence on the trail of Numspa starting in Chinatown where Kala the Oracle (Shakti Chen) inform him of the importance of his quest, to the mountains of Tibet where Chandler can obtain the dagger to free The Golden Child … These magnificent Americans – so much power and so little idea what to do with it. Never mind that this is one of the oddest movies in the careers of all concerned, it was one of the weirdest hits of the Eighties. It doesn’t quite do the deep-dive into mysticism and martial arts you expect and it steers just wide of too much threat, with Dance a terrific baddie. Murphy is charming as ever but has to do a lot of the heavy lifting in his scenes with Lewis. Written by Dennis Feldman and directed by Michael Ritchie. If you took the short path and reached enlightenment before tomorrow who wouldn’t want you for a husband?
mondomovies 