Pointless remake

I couldn't find one thing I liked about this film more than the original. The only thing it adds is the backstory of how Papillon came to end up imprisoned, and shows him as a free man at the end briefly, which is something I thought the original did well to leave out.

It's not a bad film per se, there just isn't any need for it when the original is in existence.

The acting from the leads is ok, although McQueen had more character and personality in his portrayal and showed a man on the brink of madness a lot better, but I guess we can say that was partly down to the writing, as well as the acting. There was better chemistry between all the actors in the original too.

It leaves out the part with the lepers, rushes through the part with the tribe, and gives the butterfly connection very little significance. All things that added depth and intrigue to the original. The location didn't even look particularly exotic either. Papillon could have been escaping in the highlands of Scotland when he first makes a run for it, for all I knew. I never even felt like he had a real desire to escape in this one.

I wouldn't bother wasting your time with this, just go and watch the superior original.