My own self

Shiver my timbers, shiver my sails.

Dead men tell no tales.

- Final two lines of Muppet Treasure Island opening song



So, I might be biased in all sorts of directions, being one of those kinds who read Treasure Island somewhere between five and twelve times growing up, but I doubt many will give much of an argument if I claim that Long John Silver is indubitably one of the most compelling fictional characters of the villainous persuasion there ever was.

In this movie, he is played by Tim Curry, who does a decent but not really that memorable job of it. This might not be just Curry's fault, though, as the movie clearly tries to hold the focus on the Muppet-characters and on the protagonist Jim. The only human-starred character that makes an impact is Billy Connolly's short appearance as Billy Bones in the beginning, and let's face it, he's Billy Connolly, he'd make an impact if he spent the entire movie locked inside a box.

So, there's probably many ways to view this movie. As a Muppet-movie I don't feel qualified, having only seen their "Wizard of Oz" and "Take Manhattan" once each ages back. As a musical, a book-adaption and as a story, though, I feel like I can throw in a few cents worth of comments.

The songs are, on the most part, entertaining, and only occasionally pull you out of the on-going plot - and when it does, it's rather done on purpose. A few are too silly for my tastes, but memorable numbers like the opening song I quoted from, the "Sailing for adventure on the deep, blue sea" is engaging, and several others stuck with me.

The Muppets, as a whole, are funny, and, with my limited experience with The Muppet Show, well cast. Especially Sam the Eagle as First Mate Arrow is awesome in this film. While the movie wildly diverges from the book at several points, it's rather clear that the makers have read it thoroughly anyway, keeping things like the black spot on a page of the Bible, Benjamin Gunn ("Benjamina Gunn", a.k.a. Miss Piggy, Flint's lover) and Arrow's disappearance mid-voyage in the tale. Blind Pew deserves a special mention, he's - despite the blind-jokes - almost as ominous here as he was in the book. You almost forget that 90% of the characters aren't people, that's how well it's done.

As a story, it runs relatively simply and straightforwardly. There's no huge surprises, even if you haven't read the book, and it's very kid-friendly in the few twists it does. It's very funny on occasion, and worth seeing in its own right, but to me this movie's main strength was how much it made me wish to read the book again, something I haven't done in a decade.

I think that if I find the time, I will now.

Good fun! 7/10