A brilliant film that helped define a genre

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

There appear to be an infinite number of live-action movies based on cartoons and 90% of them are just plain bad. You could probably rank them next to movies based on video games as the worst kind of film genre out there. This was none other than the first ever live-action movie based on a cartoon. As such, is it a case of first installment wins? I mean, I've seen so many downright awful live-action adaptations that are nothing like the source material and are just plain stupid. But really, this film holds up way better than most of those other movies. Again, I'm going to admit some bias with this because it stars Robin Williams. It's great to see him in one of his youngest roles.What I really do love about this movie is how faithful it is to the cartoon. I mean, if you seriously compare the clothes and appearances that it had, you really will find out this movie is pretty spot on. Obviously, it's hard to adapt a cartoon, but they really do want to do it faithfully. It seems like most of these films make the mistake of not being cartoonish enough or being too cartoonish. This really did seem to go pretty well in the middle. For all the slow parts, there were some really good goofy sound effects and cartoon like slapstick. It actually does feel like you're watching the original cartoon. It does hold the distinction of being the highest ranked live-action adaptation on RottenTomatoes.And yeah, it does have faults. It probably could have been trimmed by a half hour as the story seems to get a bit too complicated at times. It's still great to see characters like Wimpy and Lil' Swee Pea represented so well. I really do like the atmosphere of the movie. I especially like the scenes in the diner where they're tossing these cartoonish looking burgers around. It just has a nice quaint feeling to it. It gets best near the end where it really starts to feel like a standard Popeye cartoon. It actually works pretty well as an origin story. You see Popeye meeting the other characters and discovering spinach. I would not go so far as to recommend this, at least not to people who aren't Popeye fans. Of course, in an age of horrendous films like "Jem And The Holograms", it's worth watching over and over. ***

I didn't see Popeye the movie for the first time until it came out on video. But I remember how my dad told me he saw it in the movie theater. He told me afterwards "Popeye hads its moments, sos I, halfway throughs the movie, I wents out to me car to gets me cigarettes, hads me a puffs or two, then wents back inside to wartch the rest of me movie, geh geh geh geh geh." A couple of years later, we rented Popeye on video and I saw it, and I'd seen it several times since. Its not too bad. Robin Williams is fairly convincing as Pop-eye. Paul Smith as Bluto, looking large and menacing like his cartoon version. Paul Dooley isn't too bad as Wimpy. And Ray Waltson as Poopdeck pappy. And Shelly Devaul as Olive fits her role pretty good. She does sort of seem like Olive Ole come to life, with the looks and mannerisms. However, the late Zasu Pitts who starred in several different 1930s films such as "Meet the baron" and "Dames" would've been an even better Olive with her looks and the very Olive Ole like way she went "oh my" in her films. I read somewhere that they took some of Zasu's mannerisms and appearance when creating Olive's character when the Popeye cartoon was first made. I always watched Popeye as a kid growing up even before seeing this movie. I liked the neat special effects, too such as steam really coming from Bluto's ears when he got mad, just like the cartoon. They also had Popeye's (Robin's) forearms really bulging out and him doing the squint with his eye just the right way, and his pipe. They made the seaport town Sweethaven look quite convincing. It always had an English seaside town feel. Anyways, this movie overall had some good, funny, and interesting moments. A few other moments were a little less below par. And I personally don't think the songs in the film were that good, or necessary. Popeye the cartoon was not a musical. Overall though, this is always a pretty good film for a mom or dad to watch with their kids.Note; I wrote this review about a year and a half ago, and no one has clicked on either 'useful' or 'not useful' yet. Can someone reading this please click on one? I won't be offended either way on which you click on, I'm just curious on what others may think of this review. Thanks

This 1980, live-action, feature film called "Popeye" is absolute T-R-A-S-H! Absolutely!! Absolutely!! ABSOLUTELY!!! I guarantee you that there's not a single, solitary funny, or even slightly amusing, moment in this movie's entirety. There isn't. Popeye has got to be one of the ultimate fiasco movies of all time. It wouldn't (and it couldn't) even amuse a 5-year-old child.For all the extensive time, effort, and cost that was obviously put into the design and building of the elaborate and goofy "Looney-Tune" sets for Popeye, and, not to mention, Robin Williams' special Popeye make-up effects, I'd have thought there'd be, at least, some worthwhile and humorous entertainment value to this flick. But, nope, there wasn't. Popeye was pure G-A-R-B-A-G-E!!.... There's no if's....and's...or, but's, about it.The Popeye cartoon character is, without a doubt, one of my all-time favourite, animated heroes. He's such a dynamic and complex sailor-dude. Popeye ranks right up there with Superman in my books.And, yet, in this flick Robin Williams almost single-handedly succeeded in destroying Popeye's wonderful charm and winning character with his cringe-worthy portrayal. Williams was absolutely pathetic as Popeye. He, literally, rendered Popeye contemptible. I loathed the way he tried to emulate Popeye's gestures and imitate Popeye's unique speech pattern and distinctive chuckle.....Blah! All anybody, in their right mind, has to do is simply watch any one of Popeye's amazing animated shorts from the 1930's or 40's. It doesn't take a genius to immediately realize that there's no comparison here between one of these classic cartoon episodes and this crummy, little excuse of a movie. A simple, short, 7-minute Popeye cartoon from 1938 surpasses this inferior flick by literal miles when it comes to likable characters, genuine humour, and real, honest-to-goodness imagination.

POPEYE was Robin Williams' first starring role in a feature film, and he inhabits the character perfectly. This movie, more than any other that I can remember, is the best example of a live action cartoon, in the best sense of the term. Watching it was like a cartoon come to life. It was truly wonderful and extremely funny to watch characters behaving as if they were in one, from their movement to the way they spoke. And none exemplify this better than Robin Williams in the title role, who channels his unbridled comic talent into a completely dedicated performance which is equally hilarious and touching. The story is fairly simple, though. Popeye rows into the town of Sweethaven looking for his 'Pap.' While there, he (and the audience) find out about how messed up that town really is. They have an absurd amount of taxes, and everyone is kept in fear of a mysterious Commodore and Captain Bluto, who run the town. He also meets Olive Oyl, played (at times screechingly) by Shelley Duvall (who also fits her role perfectly). This film is also a musical, and there several catchy numbers which have the capacity to stick in your head if you aren't careful. If I have any complaints, it's that Shelley Duvall isn't as good a singer as she is an actress, but nothing she does really ruins the picture. The biggest flaw in the film is direction the narrative takes about two thirds of the way through. I also thought that Bluto wasn't really given his due as a character. Still, for Robin Williams fans this will be essential viewing. It's a wacky, manic experience that demands to be seen.