Henri Charrière, called 'Papillon' for the butterfly tattoo on his chest, is convicted in Paris for a murder he did not commit. Sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, he becomes obsessed with escaping. After planning and executing a series of treacherous yet failed attempts, he's sent to the notorious prison Devil's Island, a place from which no one has ever escaped.
A few minutes longer than the original yet feels shorter, more efficient, more engaging, with a screenplay that brings out the relationship at the story's heart.
By trying to remain indebted to a movie which already worked quite well on its own, and not trying to modernize or otherwise change the events therein, the film becomes overshadowed by its predecessor.
While you do feel the pathos, it doesn't quite give you the intended catharsis. It's still a cracking adventure yarn and those who haven't seen the 1973 original should definitely go for it.
It is an impressively staged and appropriately rain-soaked, mud-splattered, bone-crunching tale, more violent and filled with rougher language than its predecessor, if not quite as powerful or moving.
Papillon has the scale and most of the technical details to make for a compelling prestige drama, but it's ultimately sunk by the numerous holes it has in its structure.
