The Goonies (1985, U.S.)

Apparently I am not a true child of my generation since I had yet to see The Goonies. So now I've seen it, and all is right with the world again.

I have to say, it wasn't terrible. It was a good adventure story, and the acting wasn't that bad, for a bunch of kids. Sean Astin was absolutely adorable, and his character was completely believable. I still can't believe that was Josh Brolin playing his older brother—the last film I saw him in was W. Of course, the one I loved the most was Jonathan Ke Quan, who most people would know as Short Round. His character was quite similar to that in Temple of Doom, but with a James Bond twist. Very cute! The interaction between all of the kids was really well played, as if they really had known each other their whole lives.

The story was a cool adventure for young kids (and I guess older ones too). Hidden tunnels, opera singing villians, pirate ships, and, perhaps most importantly, kids who are able to do something to save their neighborhood—but in a cool way. Most of the "even the smallest person can do big things" stories don't involve such fun adventures that the average child would love to participate in.

I think the thing I liked the least about the whole thing was Sloth. Without him, you could almost believe that this all may happen to a group of neighborhood kids, but with "the thing" wandering around, it just doesn't seem as realistic.

Still, I can definitely see why this one was so popular in the '80s.

Rating: 3.0