Grade: B+
Synopsis: After finding an old pirate treasure map, a group of kids set out on an adventure, crossing paths with a family of outlaws in the process.
The Goonies is a grand adventure film, and a blueprint for how to make an all-ages film that holds up over time.
Quite a bit of the film’s success was likely due to the talent involved. In front of the camera, there’s Josh Brolin, Sean Astin, and Joe Pantoliano, while behind there’s director Richard Donner (who would go on to do the Lethal Weapon series), screenwriter Chris Columbus (who would go on to launch both the Home Alone and Harry Potter franchises), and executive producer and co-writer, Steven Spielberg.
What makes The Goonies work so well is the way it manages the suspension of disbelief. The film opens in a very realistic rural suburb in the Pacific Northwest. This is a world the audience can relate to, but as the film unwinds the filmmakers gradually introduce fantastic elements—like Data’s crazy inventions and the treasure map—slowly morphing the world we know into one where an underground cavern really could lead to pirate treasure. Fortunately, the filmmaker’s knew their limits and wisely dropped a scene involving a giant octopus (although if you listen close, you’ll hear Data reference it during the film’s finale).
Granted, the film can be a little hokey at times, but never to the point that it feels condescending. It’s a fine, but important line, and one The Goonies never crosses. Again, the filmmakers seem to have known their limitations and dropped a scene involving “the Goonies oath.”
While so many “all ages” films are really nothing more than toy-commercials pandering to kids, The Goonies actually captures a child’s adventuresome spirit and translates it into a hell of an enjoyable movie.
