Jim Hawkins is a young orphan living with two friends in an inn in England. He dreams of sea voyages and the boy only has the tales of Billy Bones to hang on to. Bones tells him the stories of his adventures in the high seas and he tells the tale of when he and his Captain burried their treasure in a remote island and killed the crew. The story turned out to be even truer than fiction as Bones received the dreaded ‘black spot’ and dies from a heart attack, giving Jim the map. The boys are hunted down by pirates and they make their way into a harbor to find a ship and a crew to set sail. They meet a half-wit squire who funds the voyage and hire a ship called the Hispaniola for the voyage. They set off in search of Treasure Island under the command of Capt. Abraham Smollet and a strange looking crew hired by the one legged cook, Long John Silver. Jim had been told that Silver was up to no good but Jim saw no harm in him and they became fast friends, but not everything that shines is gold…or rather, Silver…
I think I’ve said this before, I’m a big kid at heart. I love kid’s movies. Not all of them though…there are some I really just will never watch but anything pertaining to something I grew up with, I’ll most likely see. That was the case for this Muppets movie. After seeing their latest flick last fall, one of my best friends decided to go further into nostalgia by giving me this movie. I’d already seen it back when I was a kid but now that I saw it again, it gave me an even bigger appreciation for it.
The movie’s main roles are all played by human actors, in this case Silver is played by Tim Curry and he does a great job at it. I’ve always thought that Tim Curry is a great actor, most people remember him from Rocky Horror Picture Showwhile I remember him in Annie. He does such a good job with his role as Silver and it was a joy seeing him act like a pirate. To me he’s one of the stand out actors of the film.
The Muppets in this film all take secondary roles to Jim and Silver but even then, their charm and humor do shine. Fozzy is as half-witted as ever, Beaker always ends up getting blown up or hurt, Rizzo decides to make money off his trip and Sam the Eagle plays a really bad first mate. Kermit’s bad temper is really noticeable and him and Miss Piggy are the star crossed lovers that they always are.
The music is great and the setting well, it’s not the best since they’re Muppets in a boxed set, but it’s still widely entertaining. It may be a kid’s movie but it’s still a great film that one should see if not for the great actor Curry is, for the real entertainment value of the film. Especially if you’re a Muppets fan like myself!
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