The epic story of Henri “Papillon” Charrière, a safecracker from the Parisian underworld who is framed for murder and condemned to life in the notorious penal colony on Devil’s Island. Determined to regain his freedom, Papillon forms an unlikely alliance with convicted counterfeiter Louis Dega, who in exchange for protection, agrees to finance Papillon’s escape.

Review

I’ve never seen the original, and that’s probably a good thing. When the first (1973) version is portrayed by Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, the bar is set pretty high. I’ve also never read the book, so I approached this with a fresh eye. It’s a good story, and I’m a big fan of Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim, The Lost City of Z) and Rami Malek (Jumanji, Mr. Robot), so it helped make the movie more enjoyable for me. It was an enjoyable experience, and while it might have been 10 minutes too long for my taste, I have no regrets.

Score: 6.5/10

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