Summary
A strange sailor, in search of his father, drifts into a ramshackle town. He’ll find more family than he bargains for as the town of Sweet Haven finds a hero.
Convergence
One of the things I enjoy most about the cinematic art form is when I find a movie that is truly one of a kind.
Another thing I love about film is when a director, crew, or actor gives it their all and fails spectacularly, despite never giving up.
Yet another thing I love about film is the memory I have of watching movies with my dad and brother as I grew up, whether I always understood the movies or not.
To me, “Popeye,” is a perfect storm of those three things.
What I Won’t Claim
Look. I’m not going to say that this is a great film. It’s not. I’m also not going to say it’s a disaster, as many critics might. It’s not. I’m not going to say everyone should see this film. They shouldn’t.
But there is an audience for this film that I believe will love it, warts and all.
What Makes It Special
It’s hard to describe to someone how bizarre this film is. Imagine a film where someone thought, “Hey, I love Popeye cartoons. There should be a Popeye movie, but not a cartoon movie. It should have all the same cartoony gags, cartoony outfits, and cartoony characters, but it should be live action, starring Robin Williams, and it should be a musical.”
Does that sound insane to you? Does it sound fun to you? Does it sound like a charming disaster?
What Does and Does Not Work
At its core, the concept is hilarious and fun. It is in the execution that it falls apart, but not in the ways one might expect.
I would argue that this movie is at its best when it is really swinging for the fences and committing to the live action cartoon concept. It’s funny to see Robin Williams’ (“The Fisher King”) huge prosthetic arms getting twisted around like a corkscrew so he can throw a spinning jab to someone’s stomach. It’s funny to see Shelley Duvall (“The Shining”) flailing around yelling, “Oh My!” like a cartoon. All of that stuff works.
What doesn’t work are the times the film tries to be a ‘real movie.’ When Popeye and the gang start having serious character motivations the film grinds to a halt.
No one comes to a Popeye movie to see him cry about his long lost dad and try to patch things up with him. They come to see Bluto get pummeled.
No one wants to hear about how lonely Popeye gets at sea in his dinghy or see him fall in love with annoying Olive Oyl. Certainly they don’t want to hear him sing about it.
For entire sections of this film the cartooniness of the concept is abandoned and the movie starts to drag.
Verdict
Obviously, I like this film a lot. I know it isn’t for everyone but if you are like me and you see so many movies that sometimes you just want to see something completely different than anything else you’ve ever seen, then you just may fall in love with this film.
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