The Goonies: 40 Years On

With sequel rumours taking shape, how does the much-loved original hold up?

Credit: Warner Brothers

Warning: Contains spoilers

For decades, rumours of a sequel to The Goonies (1985) flittered in and out of film news. Now, these rumours seem to have taken substantial shape, with the announcement last February that Potsy Ponciroli has been hired by Warner Brothers to pen a new instalment. Will this reunite the original cast? Will it feature a new gang of obnoxiously loud children in an Astoria-set treasure hunt? More importantly, will such a sequel be a nostalgia-bait waste of celluloid, or will it prove that exceptionally rare beast: a genuinely worthwhile legacy sequel?

Frankly, I can see no good artistic reason to make a sequel to The Goonies, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this month. For some, the Richard Donner-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced original is a Generation X sacred text. I saw it when I was ten. My father took me to see it at the cinema as a special treat. I was the perfect age for it, and, at the time, I absolutely loved it. I say this as a prelude to what may come as a shock to some: Viewed with adult eyes, I don’t consider The Goonies a “great” film. Despite a fervent cult following (I suspect mostly by people my age), it is a “good” film at best, and perhaps not a particularly good one at that.