Review of 'Popeye'

On our recent trip to Malta I was surprised to find it was the location where the vintage classic musical “Popeye” featuring Robin Williams was filmed. The old “Sweethaven” set has been adapted into a tourist attraction devoted to the characters. Though I am not sure that many of the visitors have seen this film which, frankly, tanked at the box office but I remembered it and recently sat down to watch it again…

Popeye (Robin Williams) arrives at the small coastal town of “Sweethaven” which is populated by some pretty unusual characters such as the gruff heavy-set bully Bluto (Paul L. Smith), his reluctant fiancé Olive Oyle (Shelley Duvall), and hamburger-obsessed Wimpy (Paul Dooley). Popeye has been searching for his father who abandoned him when he was two years old. He is viewed with suspicion in the town but gradually strikes up a relationship with Olive. When they find an abandoned infant which they name Swee'pea (Wesley Ivan Hurt) Bluto decides to have his revenge at the loss of his bride-to-be…

Yeah, this is corny, over the top and, of course, it is also a musical. These all likely contributed to the fact that this film is largely considered a flop. As an early attempt at adopting a cartoon/comic to film I think it does remarkably well. Looking at it now the effects are laughable (Popeyes bulging forearms, an obviously rubber frowning octopus, an animatronic albatross…) but putting this aside, the performances are over-the-top, remarkable stunts, and amazingly imaginative sets - all perfect for this type of film. It is bizarre and certainly different but I think that is in it's favour - It was never trying to be anything more. It had a first rate filmmaker at the helm, Robert Altman (famous for the M*A*S*H film) and incredible new comedic actor Robin Williams fresh off his success on the small screen in “Mork and Mindy” and the tall, slenderly built acting talent Shelley Duvall who seems to have been born for this role. Put them all together to create a musical based on the popular Popeye comic strip (and cartoons) is not terribly obvious but it works…to a degree.

With all of this is it a good film? No, not really, but it is interesting to watch and admire the work that went into it even if it never really seems to come together. As a piece of slapstick comedy, sure, but there is not much more than that here. It is just too weird and awkward with too much going on for it's own good - It does not seem to know when enough is enough: Do we really need the circus performers in the cast doing silly stunts all the time? Do we really need this as a musical? Do we really have to literally try to recreate the comic on the screen or maybe hold back a bit…? 10/10 for effort.

Still, I could not help but hum the “Sweethaven” tune to myself as I walked through the set in Malta…

Rating: “It is OK but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2025-09-07

Directed by: Robert Altman

Studio: Paramount Pictures

Year: 1980

Length: 97 minutes

Genre: Musical

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081353/

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