Review of The Goonies (1985) by Tomas T — 08 Sep 2012

The 1985 adventure cult classic, The Goonies, must be one of the purest whole family adventure films I have come across so far. Overall the 80's was a golden age for adventure films with productions like Indiana Jones trilogy, Star Wars movies, James Bonds and many others, and The Goonies fits right in amongst the classics.

The story of Goonies is dead simple; a group of pre-teens set on a wild treasure hunt in order to save their homes from demolition. As dated as the story might sound, it is the perfect excuse for the "Goonies" squad to depart on a spectacular adventure. From there on, the film is constant hassle and contains every imaginable adventure film/funhouse "must be included" elements imaginable: Silly bad guys, a long lost pirate treasure, bats, skeletons, scary "monster", infatuation and the list goes on and on. All this might sound awfully clicheish, and honestly most of it does not make much sense, but it works quite well and I would expect no less from a 80's adventure film.

As nostalgic and fun as The Goonies is, there are some factors in the film which kept rubbing me the wrong way through the film. The main gripe being the constant yelling and shrieking characters which I found beyond annoying. Other factors were mostly story related and how absurd most of the film was, but that is what you get if you try to assess a film like this rationally. In any case, The Goonies was rather nice and entertaining adventure flick overall, but obviously I am already outside the target audience. Had I seen the film 20 years ago, I am sure it would have been the best film ever.