It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights, it’s time to get re-introduced to the Muppets. That’s not quite how the theme song goes but for longtime fans of Kermit and pals, getting back with the gang is as easy as singing along. But for those who didn’t grow up with the Muppets, this shouldn’t be the first movie you see.
Walter is a Muppet growing up in SmallTown, U.S.A. All his life he watched The Muppet Show with his human brother Gary (Jason Segel). Finally, Walter, Gary and Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) take a trip to Los Angeles to sightsee and visit the old Muppet’s studio. But when they get there, the old Muppet’s studio is a rundown poorly managed mess. Exploring by himself, Walter accidentally stumbles upon a secret meeting run by oil baron Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) who has plans to tear down the Muppet studio to drill for the oil underneath.
Horrified, Walter, Gary and Mary find Kermit the Frog and convince him to get the whole gang back together. After finding the old crew the Muppets put on one last show/telethon to raise the 10 million dollars needed to save the studio.
Boy is it good to see the Muppets again. “Muppet Treasure Island” was basically on repeat my entire childhood. “A Muppet’s Christmas Carol” gets even more air time than “Elf” around Christmas time. So when multiple, incredibly creative Muppet trailers started to hit the airwaves early this year, no one was more excited than me.
Except for maybe Hollywood in general. Celebrity cameos abound in “The Muppets”: Alan Arkin, Whoopi Goldberg, Jack Black, and Zach Galifianakis to name just a few. Everyone is excited for the return of the Muppets.
Right from the beginning there are self-aware, fourth wall breaking jokes that make the Muppets more than just talking puppets. “That sounds like an important plot point; I hope the audience was listening.” For kids and parents alike the jokes are a clean return to form.
And like every Muppets movie, the music is a stellar example of songwriting and love of the source material. Musical group Feist and Bret Mackenzie of Flight of the Concords helped Jason Segel write and perfect the music.
But for everything “The Muppets” does right, it does an equal amount wrong. First would be the introduction of the newest Muppet, Walter. I never knew a Muppet to be annoying but somehow they found a way. Instead of more screen time to classic characters, most of it is pushed onto Walter’s poorly designed shoulders. Characters that needed more jokes get pushed to the side after their reintroduction to never make much of an impact later. Not to mention that a certain Rizzo the rat gets absolutely no screen time at all while Walter gets his own solo number.
The biggest problem of all about “The Muppets” is the lack of space for new fans. The old ones are all here, crowding the movie theater. But potential new fans will sit outside wondering what in the world they just saw. References to Muppet Show classics will go right over their heads and the same self-aware jokes that old fans appreciate can come off as lazy joke-writing when it happens several times.
Otherwise, “The Muppets” is still an insanely clever, enjoyably giddy trip down memory lane. Just make sure you’ve already been down the lane.
2 and a half out of 4 stars
-Christopher O'Connell
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