With brothers Mikey (Astin) and Brand’s (Brolin) whole neighborhood in Goon Docks, Oregon slated for demolition by greedy land developers, the boys and their friends, after finding a treasure map, decide their only hope lies in finding the long-lost treasure of pirate One-Eyed Willy.
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Looking at classic 80’s movies to watch, I realized there are quite a few to choose from. When scrolling through streaming, I settled on The Goonies. A classic with a lot of stars kind of before they were famous, it seemed like something to revisit after all these years. Would it still hold up, or had this one lost its impact over the years?
A young Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) leads the cast in The Goonies. His Mikey brings an exuberance and reverence to this treasure hunt, getting viewers as enthralled in the hunt as he is. Josh Brolin (Deadpool 2) is his older brother, and they do a good job playing up their sibling banter together. A couple of Mikey’s friends are also pretty well known these days, including Corey Feldman (The Lost Boys) as Mouth and Ke Huy Quan (all grown up in Everything Everywhere All at Once) as techno geek Data. Jeff Cohen rounds out the group, and while he’s less known, he’s still fun as Chunk (although he’s treated pretty badly). Kerri Green and Martha Plimpton join the crew as well, with Martha outshining Kerri just a bit.
The rest of the cast includes both the easily familiar and the relatively obscure. Joe Pantoliano (Daredevil), Robert Davi (License to Kill) and ex NFL footballer John Matuszak as brothers, with Anne Ramsey (Throw Momma from the Train) as their criminal mom. They all do decent jobs, with John Matuszak’s Sloth getting a bigger part, while the Joe and Robert get to play the Home Alone type bad guys as Anne cringes whenever they get caught in a trap.
In The Goonies, a bunch of weird kids in the same neighborhood are about to get evicted by a rich guy who wants to tear down their houses. They discover a treasure map, and go on a hunt to recover the loot and save their neighborhood. Simple, but here its completely effective. By not spending much time on the little stuff (like why is the whole neighborhood in jeopardy) and focusing on the treasure hunt, the viewers barely even notice the unanswered questions, caught up in the search for the treasure. While it’s a lot more simple than other treasure hunt films like National Treasure or The Da Vinci Code, it still works.
Of course, The Goonies isn’t just about a treasure hunt. It’s about making these awkward kids feel better about themselves, and letting them have a bit of fun. There’s a coming-of-age feel to the film that viewers will easily relate to. After all, who out there hasn’t felt like one of the weird kids at least once? It gives the whole film the little extra it needs to make it memorable. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s still pretty entertaining.
The only real drawback in The Goonies is how Chunk is treated. Right from the start, when this slightly overweight kid has to do the “Truffle Shuffle” to get in the gate, you know there’s going to be some fat shaming happening. And boy does it. Always hungry, stuffing his face, or talking about food, Chunk is the stereotypical fat kid in 80’s movies – the one everyone picks on because of their weight. Heck, even his nickname, Chunk, refers to his weight. Yikes. It’s not as bad as, say, Shallow Hal, but it’s still not a message any film should be sending to kids.
With a strong cast, a decent plot and a real feel of wonder to the film, it’s easy to see why The Goonies is still a favorite for a lot of 80’s kids (and beyond). Watching it now, after seeing what a lot of its stars have gone on to do, just adds another layer of fun to the whole thing. It’s an entertaining coming-of-age story for underdogs, wrapped up in the thrill of a treasure hunt. Who can resist that?
