Find the Ohana Review: Netflix created a touching version of Goonies

Netflix recently dabbled in superhero and spy films tailored for children. Hence, it’s appropriate that his next kid-friendly adventure follows another well-worn genre: the treasure hunt. In the tradition of the 1985 treasure hunt classic The goonies, Find Ohana follows a group of children who brave a variety of dangers as they search for secret pirate treasure. But director Jude Weng brings the idea up to date by turning the biggest stakes into the children’s family dramas and adding specific notes on Hawaiian culture that defines the characters.

Although the film stretches too thinly with some plot points and adds unnecessary conflict, Find Ohana uses his quest story to tell a cute story about reconnecting with family and culture.

[Ed. Note: This review contains slight spoilers for Finding ’Ohana.]

Hana, Ioane, Pili and Casper after a swim in the water

The family journey begins when 12-year-old geocaching enthusiast Pili (Kea Peahu) lands a heart attack in Hawaii with her mother Leilani (Kelly Hu) and older brother Ioane (Alex Aiono) after their grandfather Papa (Branscombe Richmond) has a heart attack. Although Pili and Ioane were both born in Hawaii, they spent most of their lives in Brooklyn. Leilani is worried about her father, but has had unresolved tensions with him since she left years ago after her husband’s death.

Pili is initially disappointed with the trip because it keeps her away from geocaching camp. But then she discovers an old diary that lists hidden treasures. Together with courageous animal lover Casper (Owen Vaccaro) and responsible teenage girl Hana (Lindsay Watson), Pili and Ioane search for their lost fortune in the hopes that it could save their grandfather’s country from foreclosure.

The complex family dynamics center the film, although some of the conflicts become more relevant than others. The strongest strands come from the characters who are together for most of the movie. Papa is bedridden after a second accident and he and Leilani argue about what this means for his future, while Ioane and Pili have to settle their differences on a dangerous search. These arcs are given nuances and weight, with no clear right or wrong. In the end, all family members got along a little better. Ioane and Pili feel like real siblings, from the very specific things they annoy each other about to the way they physically fight. The treasure hunt is important to the film, but the family dynamic is there Find Ohana his heart.

However, the division between Leilani and her children is less smooth. The film implies that it has to do with her dead father, but while Ioane calls out to his mother for not spending enough time with them at home and throwing herself into work, it’s never clear what her job is. Ioane and Pili feel betrayed that their mother would consider selling their Brooklyn apartment without consulting them, while Leilani feels guilty about leaving her father behind. That alone would be weighty enough without the absent, work-obsessed mother-piece that feels like it’s been added to further complicate the emotions. But because the children spend most of the film outside of their mother, their problems are not resolved as properly.

Pili and her grandfather look at the diary

As for the treasure hunt itself, similar to 2019 Dora and the lost city of gold, Find Ohana manages to keep the thrill of the archeological adventure genre going, but also to question some of its uglier aspects. As fun as the treasure hunt in adventures like the Indiana Jones and can be The Mummy Movie franchises are about desecrating graves and stealing artifacts from other cultures. in the Find Ohana, that is nicely undermined: Pili and her friends want to find the treasure in order to save their grandfather’s country, but realize the fame and fortune that are not important.

You will find the hidden cave from the diary and your hike is full of natural obstacles and booby traps, scary spiders and scary skeletons. While Pili, Ioane, Hana and Casper venture through the cave, they bond and argue and finally put the whole story behind the hidden treasure together. It’s satisfying to see how their jokes develop. And in the end, Weng finds a way to turn discovery into adventure – characters grapple with the consequences of stumbling across places they shouldn’t and ultimately learn more about their own Hawaiian culture.

The movie works best when it focuses on two things: the treasure hunt and family history. They bond wonderfully, and through their adventure the siblings learn more about local legends and customs and each other. But there are a handful of redundant plot points that are not treated as properly. Ioane finds a secret Juilliard application in Hana’s car, which immediately disappears from the plot, is then brought up for three seconds in the third act of the film and then dropped again. They do snog at some point though, because why not add in some random teen romance? Most of the treasure hunt is exciting, but some shoehorn stakes – like a deadly spider bite – only detract from the overall mission. Weng and stretch the film too thin in places where you should only focus on the film’s core strengths.

Because in the end Find Ohana it is not about these additional points of action. It’s not even about finding treasure. It’s about reconnecting with family and discovering a cultural heritage. This cultural quirk sets them apart from treasure hunt films of the past, in which the thrill of the hunt came from the glory of wealth. in the Find OhanaHawaiian cultural customs and legends shape the fun romping around, but also support family issues. For the most part, Weng weaves adventure and sentimentality together, but when it comes down to it, Find Ohana works when it focuses on the ohana at its core.

Find Ohana is now streamed on Netflix.