Popeye

Movie review by M. Faust, Common Sense Media
Popeye Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 6+

An eccentric take on Popeye and friends.

PG 1980 113 minutes
Rate movie

Parents say

age 9+

Based on 4 reviews

Kids say

age 7+

Based on 8 reviews

Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free.
Rate movie

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that kids will hear a few instances of very mild cursing and see cartoonish fights between Popeye and several villains, including his nemesis Bluto.

Community Reviews

mmcqui01
mmcqui01 Adult
March 15, 2020
age 5+

Decent live action version of cartoon

Those familiar with and enjoyed the cartoon will appreciate this one. Otherwise the eccentric nature and exaggerated performances will be lost on the viewer and leave them confused
Lowe's man
Lowe's man Adult
September 22, 2014
age 6+

Enjoyable for everyone, but especially for true Popeye fans.

Although the movie isn't as good as the cartoon (and to expect that it would be would've been outlandish), it's up there. Paramount and Disney captured the flavor of the characters. While Robin Williams doesn't look like Popeye, the way he plays the part more than makes up for it. The other characters both look and act the way they do in the cartoon. The songs and the scenery are very good too. An added plus for true Popeye fans is that we get to meet Olive's relatives, which do appear in comic strips but not in the tv or theatrical cartoons. The only major difference between the cartoon and this movie is that Popeye hated spinach until Bluto shoved it in his throat. (In the cartoons Popeye liked spinach since he was a little kid.) But at that pivotal moment at the end, he immediately learned to like spinach. Popeye defeated the tax man, and for good reason; he taxed people for silly reasons. (He was probably greedy.) Once he'd been in Sweethaven for a couple days, he learned that his long-lost father (Pappy) is the Commodore for whom Bluto works (whom Popeye eventually finds). Popeye's arrival shows Olive how mean Bluto is. Olive then falls in love with Popeye. At the tail end of the movie The Great Depression is mentioned. Without those lines we'd get the idea that the setting is in the 19th or early 20th century. After all, no one has a car, a telephone, radio or tv. A classic must-see.
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Director Robert Altman's live action POPEYE stars Robin Williams as the spinach-eating sailor of newspaper and cartoon fame. Popeye (Robin Williams) drops anchor in Sweethaven, a ramshackle little seaside town where the buildings are as odd as their inhabitants. He rents a room in the Oyl household, which is preparing for the upcoming engagement of daughter Olive (Shelly Duvall). Her prospective fiancé is Bluto, who runs the town for his boss, the feared but seldom-seen Commodore. Sweethaven isn't the friendliest place in the world (the major industry seems to be taxation), but it becomes a home to Popeye when he adopts a foundling. Swee'Pea, as he names the child, helps forge a bond between him and Olive Oyl, to the chagrin of Bluto. And Popeye's sense that this is the place to search for his father proves to be correct.

Is It Any Good?

Perhaps the best word to describe this film is "eccentric." Popeye is one of those movies that you either love or hate. Director Robert Altman and writer Jules Pfeiffer took their inspiration from the original newspaper comic strips, in which Popeye and the residents of Sweethaven offered commentary on the hard times of the 1930s. The performers do an admirable job of enlivening the characters, but those characters are sometimes so charmless that you wonder why they bothered. Shelly Duvall is especially good at portraying Olive Oyl, though a little of her goes a long way. Robin Williams has Popeye's gait and mumble, but his dialogue seldom rewards the effort it takes to hear it.

Altman put obvious effort and expense into designing the town of Sweethaven, but his trademark style, in which the camera seems to drift aimlessly around, is poorly suited to showing it off. Altman has a similar problem with the songs Harry Nilsson composed for the movie -- they're often lovely, but given the naturalistic style in which they're used, they simply fade away before we can notice them.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about remakes and nostalgia. Why make a movie that essentially reproduces a cartoon popular when many of today's parents were children? Do you think it's harder or easier than creating new characters, new themes, new stories? Is there an element of safety in remaking a once-popular cartoon?

Movie Details

Our Editors Recommend

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate