POPEYE (1980)

POPEYE (1980)

Tagline: Chock-full of hearty laughs for the entire family!

(Adventure, Comedy, Musical) [PG]

So you don't like spinach?

In this one, Popeye sails on a small boat into the port of a small town looking for his father who left him after his mother died 30 years earlier. Upon arriving in town Popeye ends up staying in a room owned by Olive Oyl’s mother and father. Olive Oyl is supposed to marry the town brute named Bluto, but takes a liking to the kindly new stranger, as they bond over a baby that was abandoned to them while having a conversation about Olive skipping town. 

First off, this movie is NOT for everyone. Yes, it was marketed as a family film, but to be honest there isn’t much that is functional family-wise in this entire movie. What we do get though is fairly wholesome humor and quirky hijinks throughout this entire film. It feels like Popeye (played by the late Robin Williams) has springs in his feet this entire movie. Olive Oyl (played by Shelley Duvall best known for THE SHINING)also seems like someone has puppet strings holding her up the entire movie. Rather than looking drunk, however, both characters pull off fantastically whimsical performances. 

Not to bash Robin Williams at all, but he was just okay at playing Popeye. This was actually his first leading role in a movie, but felt like the role was almost “overacted”. It could also be that I really just don’t like Popeye’s mannerisms and that it has very little to do with Robin’s portrayal of him. Robin Williams did actually have to re-dub most of his lines because Popeye was near impossible to understand. Even in the final product though, I can still barely understand him at least 75% of the time. On the other hand, as annoying as Olive Oyl is, Shelley Duvall killed this role. I mean I don’t think they could have found anyone more perfect for it. She also said this movie was pure joy for her after filming the grueling production of THE SHINING. Ray Walston does an awesome job as Popeye’s father in this. He is best known for the 60’s TV show “My Favorite Martian”. I also really liked Paul L. Smith as Bluto in this. His career spanned well into the late ’90s. This role could have also been done by Brian Blessing from FLASH GORDON I think, but Smith was great. Needless to say, the acting was all very good. I guess they even used some people from European circuses for some of the more physical roles. 

This movie also has a very specific looking atmosphere and there aren’t many films like it. While the town of Sweethaven looks very weathered and old, it was actually built over the period of 7 months for the movie at Anchor Bay on the Mediterranean island of Malta. The production is outstanding overall and even the octopus used in the movie looks pretty rad by 80’s standards. 

Where this movie kind of fails for me is the lyrics and music. There are only about 3 songs in this movie that are memorable and I probably watched this movie 30 or 40 times as a kid. This movie is considered a bomb at the box office, but it made over double its budget and has become a bit of a cult classic. 

For me, as musicals go, there are better ones out there, but this was a solid and very detailed effort to recreate the Popeye cartoon. 

For those reasons, I have to give this thing a 4 out of 7. I don’t know if most people will be able to handle how quirky this movie is, but it’s really quite fun.

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