I watched many different cartoons when I was younger and I still watch some now. Over the years, a few of those cartoons have been turned into movies, some better than others. One of those movies that has gotten a lot of bad reviews over the years is the live action version of Popeye.
Popeye had spent years looking for his father before he arrived in Sweethaven, a small sea side town that was controlled by a mysterious Commodore that no one had seen. Popeye didn't receive that warm of a welcome since the tax man charged him several stupid taxes almost as soon as he set foot on the dock and no one else would even talk to him. He finally managed to find a room to rent from the Oyl family. Their daughter Olive was engaged to Captain Bluto, a brutish man who enforced things for the Commodore. Bluto gave special privileges to Olive’s family before their relationship fell apart when Olive and Popeye found a baby. Popeye decided to name the baby Swee’pea. Things got even more complicated when Swee’pea was kidnapped and Popeye met an older sailor named Poopdeck Pappy.
Popeye first appeared in a comic strip before going on to appear in comic books and cartoons. I’ve never read any of the comic stripes or comic books, so I’m not familiar with that version of the character. I did see many of the cartoons when I was younger. A big part of the cartoons was Popeye eating spinach, so it did seem a bit strange to me that he wasn’t eating it in the movie and in fact he said he didn’t like it. That was just odd to me. I have read some things that indicate that he didn’t eat spinach in the original comic strips and how the movie was staying very close to that original version. Evidently the spinach eating was added for the cartoons.
For some reason, a decision was made to make Popeye a musical. That was a little odd since I don’t remember there being a lot of singing or even that much music in the cartoons. The only singing I remember Popeye ever doing was the short opening song for the cartoons. Before I watched the movie again recently, I hadn’t seen it in years and I had totally forgotten that there it was a musical. The songs did flow fairly well throughout the movie and it didn’t seem that unnatural for the characters to start singing like has happened in some other movie musicals. Unfortunately, I was less than impressed with the several of the songs. Singing the same word or short phrase over and over does not make for a song as far as I’m concerned and that is what happened in this movie. When Olive was singing about Bluto, she kept singing that he was larger and there really wasn’t much else to the song. Many of the songs just didn’t work for me and I couldn’t stand Shelley Duvall’s singing voice. It was very screechy and got on my nerves in a hurry.
The movie used the same type of humor that was used for the cartoon. There was a lot of general silliness throughout the movie that may bother some viewers. I thought the silliness worked for the most part, especially with how the movie wasn’t taking anything too serious. Slapstick humor was used, which also worked for the character and movie. I didn’t think the movie was hilarious, but there was a decent amount of humor. People looking for a really funny movie will probably be disappointed with this one and should pick something different to watch.
A little bit of action was added to Popeye through a few fights. Popeye was a very strong man, and he demonstrated that not long after he arrived in town when some men decided to start a fight. Popeye was able to quickly deal with them. Later in the movie, he ended up in a fight with Bluto that didn’t go as well for him. Bluto had a temper and he had a habit of beating up on anyone near by. Some of the things he did in those times was a little silly and the fight scenes were more funny than violent. The violent things were more cartoon like in nature, complete with some funny sound effects, so the movie really wasn’t violent even with the different fight scenes.
It has been years since I last saw any of the cartoons, so I don’t remember a lot. I do remember Popeye and Olive being together a lot and it had seemed like they were dating. I don’t remember Olive ever being interested in Bluto in a romantic way. I may have just forgotten about that aspect of the cartoons. When Popeye began, Olive was actually engaged to Bluto though she was having second thoughts. Popeye was taken with her when they first met and once Swee’pea turned up, the two seemed to be spending more time together to care for the baby. There was only a tiny amount of romance in the movie and it wasn’t the main focus of the movie.
Popeye was mostly how I remembered him from the cartoons. Really all that was missing was his eating spinach all the time. He was a strong man who didn’t set out to fight people. He was hoping to finally find his father and he was determined to be a good parent to Swee’pea. Robin Williams fit the role really well and the voice sounded pretty good. He went around mumbling under his breath a lot, something I remember Popeye doing in the cartoons. This was actually the first movie that Williams made.
Olive was still living with her parents since she was unmarried even though she had been engaged before. She seemed less than thrilled about the idea of marrying Bluto. She did a lot of complaining about stupid things at times that made her annoying. Her voice was kind of whiney and shrill, especially when she was excited. Her voice did grate on my nerves a bit. I did think that Shelley Duvall looked perfect for the part. Some of Olive’s family was shown without any of them being developed or having much of anything to do. I don’t remember ever seeing her family in the cartoons.
Bluto was just shown to be a brute that everyone was afraid of. He enforced the laws for the Commodore and frequently resorted to violence when he lost his temper. He didn’t say much of anything and was usually just glowering at other people. He was not a nice guy. Poopdeck Pappy was a grumpy older sailor who turned up late in the movie. Wimpy was also renting a room from Olive’s family. He was always trying to get hamburgers. Several other people around town were shown without any of them receiving much development. The only one that really stands out is the tax man who was always popping up to collect some absurd tax.
Main Cast
Paul Dooley - Wimpy Shelley Duvall - Olive Oyl Paul L. Smith - Bluto Ray Walston - Poopdeck Pappy Robin Williams - Popeye
Robert Altman - Director
I found Popeye on one of my HBO channels when I watched the movie again recently. I saw it on a different channel when I watched it originally many years ago. I did see the DVD of the movie not to long ago, but I didn’t look to see what kind of extras it had.
Popeye was a decent movie even though I felt it had some problems. This was just a fun, entertaining movie for the most part. Fans of Robin Williams may enjoy it.
The legendary, beloved anvil-armed sailor of the seven seas comes magically to life in this delightful musical, starring Robin Williams as Popeye, who...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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