I didn’t grow up watching the “Muppet Show” or even “Sesame Street” for that matter, but the prospect of watching a new Muppet movie sounded fun. Turns out I was right. “The Muppets” is a wonderful one hour and 38 minutes of singing, dancing and celebrity cameos.
The big question, though, is whether the reinvigoration of the Muppet franchise hits the mark with today’s audience. Jim Henson’s Muppet creations were successful in the past because they were a fun combination that kids, young adults and parents could enjoy. With new writer/actor Jason Segel at the helm and Disney as its owner, a new Muppet movie has a challenge. Can something conceived as a variety show in the late ‘70s still be marketable?
The latest Muppet adventure follows Gary and his Muppet brother Walter as they help Kermit and the gang get back together to do a telethon show to save the Muppet theatre from evil oil baron, Tex Richman. Not a ground-breaking plot to be sure, but it sets the stage for the Muppets to do what they do best—travel across the country, sing, run into celebrities and overcome laughable villains. If you are fans of “Community”, “The Office” or Neil Patrick Harris, then you’ll be pleased with the cameos and the humor. The music was supervised by Flight of the Concords’ Bret McKenzie, which is evident in several of the numbers.
The most unbelievable thing about the movie is not the Muppets, but their human co-stars. The last movie Jason Segel starred in with a puppet, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” opened with him in the nude whipping his wiener around in front of his girlfriend. In “The Muppets” he stars as Gary, a man of indeterminate age who, despite having a girlfriend of 10 years, still sleeps in the same childhood room as his Muppet brother Walter. His girlfriend, played by Amy Adams, is probably too sweet for her part. That being said, it is a Muppet movie and they take over the screen quickly enough for the audience to forget their performance. The introduction of a new Muppet, Walter, is also forgettable, but then again a lot of things probably are when you’re up against a banjo-playing frog.
This film does its due diligence in building modern street credit for the Muppets, even for fickle college-aged movie-goers. You probably won’t see it twice, unless you need a tolerable movie to watch with your younger relations over the break. On the other hand, if you like walking out of a movie with skip in your step, maybe you will.
