The Robin Williams Blogathon 2018 – Popeye (1980)

This is my 2nd of 3 reviews for the Robin Williams Blogathon 2018 being hosted by Gill of WeegieMidget and Crystal from In Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood.

Tnx for letting me partake ladies!

“Another thing I got is a sensk of humiligration. Now, maybe you swabs can pool your intelligensk and sees that I’m axking you for an apologeky. ” – Popeye

Number of Times Seen – Between 5-10 times (Theater in 1980, cable and 29 Jan 2018)

Brief Synopsis – A sailor shows up in a seaside town looking for his long lost father.

My Take on it – This film is a musical adaptation of the Popeye comic strip and cartoon.

I recall seeing this film in the theater when I was 6 and as a kid loved the film so much that when it was on cable, I would watch and rewatch it numerous times.

Having not seen it in probably over 30 years, I was curious to see how I would think of it now.

They do a nice job of capturing the characters and the ‘world’ that this story takes place in eventhough the characters all seem very cartoonish.

The story itself tho doesn’t work as well and it seems to meander along most of the time.

The choice to try and keep things going with musical numbers by the characters doesn’t work as well largely due to the fact that it all seems quiet strange.

Adding to that issue is the fact that none of the songs are really very memorable.

The cast is quite good but the standout is obviously the lead character of Popeye played by Robin Williams in his Feature Film debut.

The best scenes of this film happen to be the ones where Williams get=s to verbally squabble with Ray Walston.

Their arguments are nearly unintelligible yet they are so much fun to watch mainly due to that fact.

Bottom Line – Nice adaptation of the characters and world of the animated Popeye series yet the story itself doesn’t work as well. The cast is fine and Williams stands out in his feature film debut. The best scenes are the ones when Williams and Walston squabble with one another.  The music isn’t so memorable and it comes across as a strange way to do a musical.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Robin Williams’s starring film debut. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy

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