A cluster of weird kids are striving hard to protect their homes from being knocked down. Soon after they find a a map which shows a hidden treasure in subterranean cavern. During this adventure they bump across a family of offenders who are also on a mission to find the treasure.
It's a charmless exercise: director Richard Donner turns the kids into shrieking ferrets, and his jumpy cutting seems to lag behind the action deliberately in a curious attempt to make the film seem more chaotic and cluttered.
A classic '80s action-fantasy -- tweens will love!
Cinemaphile.org
November 13, 2014
Persists as one of the great fables of young adult cinema not merely because it's very skilled at what it does, but because it weaves that magic into the minds and hearts of kids that serve as identifiable facets of our universal journey towards maturity.
The action at the center of Chris Columbus' script occasionally falters and generally feels manufactured, but the kids go about their chores as if convinced that all their make-believe is true.
The Goonies has every imaginable funhouse flourish. It has crooks, bats, cobwebs, skeletons, a lovable monster, an underground grotto and a treasure hidden by some of the most considerate, clue-loving pirates who ever lived.
The Goonies is a smooth mixture of the usual ingredients from Steven Spielberg action movies, made special because of the high-energy performances of the kids who have the adventures.
