The Goonies Movie Review

The Goonies (1985)

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Written by: Chris Columbus (screenplay by), Steven Spielberg (story by) 
Directed by: Richard Donner
Starring: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Jeff Cohen, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton, Ke Huy Quan
Rated: PG (PG-13)
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Plot
A group of young misfits called The Goonies discover an ancient map and set out on a quest to find a legendary pirate's long-lost treasure.

Verdict
I loved this movie as a kid, and nostalgia is a big part of this movie's charm. It's easy to get distracted by the lack of logic and how easy the kids stumble through the movie to succeed, but this movie captures the childlike wonder of hoping a treasure is buried in your backyard and our fascination with pirates. This movie is a child's fantasy borne on screen.
Watch it.

Review
The Goonies is one of those movies I watched many times as a kid. I had a video cassette that had been taped off broadcast, which edited out a bit of language. This movie definitely should be rated PG-13.
After watching this movie I would go into the woods around my house hoping to find some kind of treasure (I never did). I wanted to find an adventure like this. I also hoped to find the skeleton key like One Eyed Willie's, but I never found one of those either.

One Eyed Willie's skeleton key.

Does this movie hold up? The wonder and amazement is still there, but this is an on the rails adventure with no concern that the Goonies might fail. They haphazardly complete each step of the maze, often with no real skill. I can't knock the movie for that, because it's straddling that space between silly kids movies and adult dramas. This movie easily accomplishes its perceived goal. It's not Raiders of the Lost Ark, another '80s treasure hunt movie, but it never tries to be.

This really plays into children's' imaginations with all these little inventions and Rube Goldberg machines. It has pirates. Who doesn't love pirates and a treasure map that just happens to be hanging out in Mikey's attic? It's a kid's dream, to find a real treasure map and for the fairy tale to truly exist. Mikey believes in the idea and propels the group to search for treasure. This is their last grand adventure as they are going to lose their homes due to foreclosure and a subsequent country club.

One Eyed Willie and Mikey meet.

It's easy to pick this apart now. None of Data's inventions would work. How did the city run water pipes through these caves and never explore them? Despite these omissions of logic and physics, you can still see that magic of the adventure. It's not too difficult to suspend your disbelief and marvel in the wonder.

Like a lot of Spielberg's early movies, the kids are always smarter than the adults. That's why and how he shaped a generation of kids that finally had movies designed for them. The characters each fit a typical role. The eager youngster in Mikey, overbearing older brother Brand, preppy adversary Tory, and so on. Each character has a skill that aids them in finding the treasure and thwarting the bad guys. How the bumbling Fratelli's ever accomplished anything in the criminal world is a mystery.

The Fratelli crime family attempting to subdue children.

The set design is wild.The pirate ship and cave set were built on one of the largest sound stages at Warner Bros. The ship is built to scale. The entire set was eventually dismantled when a buyer couldn't be found.

One Eyed Willie's pirate ship.

Also, this movie gave us Sloth, the other Fratelli brother.

Sloth in action.

This is a fun movie trying to spark the wonder of imagination, accomplishing that in spite of and because of its shortcomings. I grew up with this movie, hoping that somehow my own small town had a hidden secret that only I and my friends could find. I hoped a grand adventure was lurking just beneath the surface. I never found that adventure, but I did have this movie.