10. Someone Can Always Read / Translate Things
Amblin EntertainmentIsn't it a real pain in the backside when you want to do something or understand something, but in order to do so you'd have to understand a certain language or set of symbols? How convenient then that, in the movies, the groups of people who encounter these problems always seem to have such a person in their ranks. The Goonies is a prime example of this, as the group has no less than two such people, without whom, the movie would have come to a standstill much earlier at two different points. First, when the Goonies find the treasure map in Brandon and Mikey's attic, it's written in Spanish. Of course, by this point, we'd already been conveniently informed of Corey Feldman's character Mouth's ability to speak Spanish in a humorous scene with the home-helper Rosalita, so it would be down to him to translate the map - which he did (and, rather mystifyingly, the text rhymed even after being translated to English). Then, later on, during the Goonies' underground treasure hunt, they encountered One-Eyed Willy's booby traps and puzzles - one of which was an organ made from human bones that had to be played correctly - using the notes on the back of the aforementioned map - in order to be allowed past. How fortunate, then, that Kerri Green's character Andy took piano lessons when she was four years old and still remembered enough to get them through. Other examples of convenient translators include Vince Vaughn's Nick Van Owen knowing Spanish in The Lost World and pretty much any vampire who has lived a supernaturally long life (even if it's just a couple of hundred years) being able to speak whatever language gets thrown at them.