I remember as a kid wanting The Goonies to be great, but when I saw it something felt wrong about it. I thought it was okay, but knew it was lacking. I recently saw it again (20 years later), and I know what the problems are. Bad writing, bad acting and bad directing. Everyone yells practically nonstop in the film. You don't believe for a second that any one of these kids is a real person. There's one hint of a decent performance when Sean Astin is recounting the story of One Eyed Willy to his friends in an out of breath monologue. I won't blame the kids, but Spielberg and Donner. Chris Columbus' script felt slapped together in a weekend (probably was under the orders of Spielberg). I have friends who love it, and have fond memories of it as kids, but I guess I've always been overly critical. It's just that I wanted more as a kid. I wanted the same feeling I had when watching Raiders for the first time, or Back To The Future. Those films had something that The Goonies lacked. I'm in the minority, but I just wanted to get it off my chest.
Review of The Goonies
