The Muppets Review


The Muppets (the comeback film for the "former" pop culture icons) does a lot of things right.  It is fun, touching and has many awesome moments.  However, the greatest thing it does is make Jason Segel seem like the perfect person to resurrect The Muppets franchise.  Segel revealed his love for the Muppets in the first screenplay he wrote, Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  In that film Segel incorporated puppets that he actually asked Jim Henson's company to make into the plot.  What resulted was one of the best scenes in the film ("Dracula's Lament").

Now three years later, Jason Segel stars and writes again but for the actual Muppets this time.  Segel's script (which he co-wrote with constant collaborator Nicholas Stoller) is nothing special.  In fact it is the weakest part of the film as it tries to cram in too much material and never picks which storyline in the film to really focus on.  Segel's performance as Gary, the human protagonist, is also far from his best as he is just asked to look happy and sing instead of providing emotional depth.  Despite this, Segel's enthusiasm for The Muppets is all over the film.  Even the biggest grouch in the world will be smiling throughout this film and that is brought to you by this one man's conviction for the subjects of this film.

Segel's biggest accomplishment in the film is his choice of director. James Bobin seems like as big of a Muppets expert as Segel as he creates the perfect atmosphere for a film from this franchise.  He is able to perfectly mix lavish dance numbers, amusing jokes, and moments of emotions while still giving almost everyone their moment in the spotlight (and this is a large cast of humans and muppets).  Just look at the telethon that takes place during the third act where the muppets storyline and human storyline mix wonderfully.  The telethon also is a major reason why both new viewers and longtime viewers of the muppets will both love it as it features a mix of classic Muppets skits and entirely new content (speaking of the new content, the original songs in this film are spectacular with "Life's A Happy Song" being of particular note).

Speaking of the cast, the actors do a great job.  Amy Adams is perfectly casted even if she doesn't get much to do.  Chris Cooper is Chris Cooper (meaning he is good as always).  Rashida Jones does well with a very one-note role.  The numerous cameos (including Jack Black, Mickey Rooney and Emily Blunt) are all fun.

The Muppets are of course great and are used effectively especially Kermit and Miss Piggy.  My only complaint about them is that the new muppet introduced in this film, Walter, is not very effective.  He is not interesting and that especially becomes apparent when he needs to use a talent of his late in the film.  I will say though that he is exceptionally performed by Peter Linz.

All in all, I think The Muppets was the most fun I had at a theater all year long.

8.5/10

5 comments:

  1. Nice review Ryan. Indeed, one of those rare movies that leaves you with a big grin on your face. I was very surprised by this, given that I knew very little about the Muppets.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, I haven't seen any of The Muppets films since I was a kid so my Muppets knowledge was very low too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I haven't seen a bad review of this movie anywhere, so even tho i am not a big muppets fan i will try to check this out at some point

    Btw, its great to know i am not the only film blogger in Conneticut :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the comment and that is quite cool to know I'm not the only one from CT

    ReplyDelete
  5. Longtime Muppet fans will undoubtedly have more fun than young ones, but for the most part, it's a witty, delightful romp, that shows you that you can still be funny, without ever being mean still in 2011. Good review. Check out mine when you get the chance.

    ReplyDelete

AllTrail's Connecticut Top 10

If you ever want to get into hiking there is no greater app that I could recommend than AllTrails. Due to a large user base, AllTrails has o...

Popular Posts