The Goonies (1985)

Children of the 80s and early 90s grew up watching this Steven Spielberg-penned film as a rite of passage. If you managed to grow up without seeing at least part of this film on weekend movie marathons on TV, you are the exception to the rule. As with many coming of age tales, The Goonies has its share of avid fans, though few of them are probably under the age of 30 now. It received mixed reviews upon its release in 1985 but childhood nostalgia has trumped this fun little flick up to be a spectacle that has to be seen.

The Goonies are a group of teenagers living in Astoria, Oregon. Usually they are wandering around town looking for adventures and mysteries but a golf course developer has their families’ houses in foreclosure, leaving them to pack up and move. While checking the attic, Mikey Walsh (Sean Astin) and his friend Clark (Corey Feldman) discover an old Spanish treasure map pointing the way to the treasure trove of the fabled One-Eyed Willie. This sets the Goonies on one last mission that could save their houses, if the criminal Fratelli Family doesn’t find the treasure first.

Don’t be fooled by Richard Donner as the director. This film has all the hallmarks of a Spielberg 80s flick. We’ve got kids facing issues with their parents and other adults who just don’t understand, peer pressure, danger, adventure, and a few easily-outsmarted bad guys. These are the basic ingredients that coming-of-age, young adult/family films continue to be made of. The transparency of it all is the kicker, and shows the film’s age. These kind of simplistic devices and plots worked for kids of the 80s, who found themselves huge targets of Hollywood studios. The Goonies could only be made now if it were an intentional spoof of 80s family flick clichés.

So what keeps modern audiences from rolling their eyes at this film? It’s got a lot of heart and it is genuinely fun to watch. Yes, your brain is going to tell you that some of what you see is preposterous, but those of us old enough to appreciate pre-90s kitsch will understand that this is how family-friendly films were made before society grew so cynical and dependent on CGI. There is a lot of formula at play here but perhaps it is the amount of outlandishness heaped atop that formula that helps The Goonies feel so fresh.

It has to be tough working with so many young actors because the craft of acting and making a story believable is hard enough for adults to do half of the time. The cast is helped by Spielberg’s script full of spot-on teen emotions. As silly as the plot may be, the characters all feel like they could be real people. Okay, maybe that’s a stretch for Data, the wacky inventor of the bunch, but everyone else feels like they could exist in real life.

The story is told through a subjective lens, not a true third-person experience. Adults are portrayed the way teens oftentimes see them- boring, slow-to-understand, or just plain in the way. Perhaps that is why this film resonates so much with so many people. It was laid out in terms that kids could understand. Is it the best movie ever? Heck no. Nostalgia has totally overrated The Goonies. That doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyed each and every time you catch it on TV.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

SECOND HELPINGS: Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

After three bloody slaughter-fests, this was to be the final Friday the 13th movie. While we know now that this was a big fat lie, you have to wonder what moviegoers anticipated leading up to its release. Would Jason go out in a blaze of glory? How will it all end? Will Jason finally die? Hardcore fans of the series were probably eager for this film and were likely disappointed, while everyone else who thought it would be little more than the same old Friday shenanigans may have found themselves pleasantly surprised.

After a weird greatest hits kind of montage of clips from the first three films, we pick up where Part III left off. Jason, thought to be dead, escapes from a hospital morgue and makes his way back to Crystal Lake. Somewhere on the lake, the newly divorced Mrs. Jarvis moves into her lakefront cottage with her teenage daughter Trish and her young son Tommy (Corey Feldman). A bunch of rowdy teenagers move into the cabin next door for a week of unsupervised fun. All of them lie in Jason’s path, leading to yet another round of blood-letting.

This film made me ponder some very important questions: How does Jason find his way back to Crystal Lake? Why can’t anyone hear this large, lumbering maniac until he is right on top of them? How is he able to break into buildings so quietly? Why are all the girls who visit Crystal Lake opposed to wearing bras?

Once again, we have a bevy of horny teenagers incapable of making good decisions. Sadly, very few of them get memorable or unique executions, something that the first three installments prided themselves on. Despite a lack of flair in his killing technique, Jason actually shows signs of planning his actions and even, dare I say it, comes off as a cunning villain at times. That certainly sets it apart from Jason’s first two rounds.

Other positive points include characters we actually care about. The Jarvis’s are innocent bystanders just trying to make it as a family; they aren’t your typical horror flick fodder. There is also a subplot involving a man hunting for Jason in the hopes of exacting revenge for his sister’s death in Part II. It falls apart a little when you realize that The Final Chapter takes place no more than four days after Part II, but it’s still a nice idea. Then there is also a virgin girl among the rowdy teens. She is the only level-headed one in the bunch. Sadly, most of these likeable characters don’t make it through the film for one reason or another.

Other than a few random acts of decent cinematography, The Final Chapter is more of the same. It doesn’t bring anything full circle or provide any kind of emotional closure one might expect from a final installment. Instead, we get a loose ending that suggests that, while Jason does die, another might step into his shoes. Sure enough, the joke is on us, since this movie made enough money for Hollywood to renege on that whole Final part.

The Final Friday is a step up from both Part II and III, but considering how insipid those two films were, being a step up isn’t really saying much. I have yet to see all of the Friday the 13th movies, but I surmise that this is probably the best place to stop watching the series if you absolutely have to go beyond the original.

ORIGINAL RATING: 1 out of 5

NEW RATING: 1 out of 5

The Fox and the Hound (1981)

The specter of Don Bluth is still evident in some of the tone and atmospherics but this is clearly a step in the right direction for Disney. At least that’s what I call The Fox and the Hound. Some will consider it a step back toward the artistic stylings of an era long gone. In a way, it is, but in doing so, Disney manages to inject a little of the old Disney magic back into the veins.

After a gunshot makes a baby fox an orphan, several woodland creatures search for a suitable home. Left on the doorstep of Widow Tweed, the baby fox is adopted and given a name- Tod. Meanwhile her scruffy neighbor brings home a young puppy to be trained into a hunting dog. So begins the tale of Tod (the fox- voiced by Mickey Rooney) and Topper (the hound- voiced by Kurt Russell), two natural-born enemies that become the unlikeliest of friends. The bonds of friendship are tested though, by instinct, time, and the expectations placed on them by their owners.

Yes, I’m going to rave a little bit more about the animation. It really looks sharp. Not just good, but some of the best full-detail animation since The Jungle Book. It looks like they finally managed to get rid of those pesky guide- and sketch lines that drove me crazy through two decades of Disney product. There’s crispness in the colors and depth to the scenery that really make you feel deep in the heart of the woods.

In something of a bold move, The Fox and the Hound does not include songs. While this flies against the archetypal (I refuse to apply the term ‘stereotype’ here) Disney format, it works because the story doesn’t really demand musical numbers. Disney had been hit or miss with the inclusion and exclusion of song and lyrics for the best part of 20 years. Some films could have used less (or more work on the numbers) while other films leave you feeling very aware of the absence of music. This film works though because the sounds of the forest are its soundtrack. Plus, as it grows darker and more serious, sing-songy bits would feel out of place.

One absolute point of contention is the flimsiness of the story. The characters are likeable more for the fact that they are cute animals than for anything they do, say, or learn. There also exists a fairly brazen anti-hunting message being delivered. It may never get preachy about the subject matter but there is no doubt that the hunter is a villain according to the Disney crew. That’s a slightly subjective position to take but I believe the observation is as objective as can be.

Plenty of good things are in play in this film. It’s a trim 83 minutes long, so it doesn’t overstay its welcome. It hearkens back to the glory days of Disney, when he animation was vibrant, lush, and legitimized Walt Disney’s goal of getting animation to be taken seriously as an art form. Too simple a story is the downfall here but even that doesn’t hurt it too badly. Parents and children can all watch this film and enjoy it as a solid second-tier Disney flick.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5