Movie Review: ‘The Muppets’

After being inundated for months by the beyond-clever marketing campaign of “The Muppets” and hoping it would live up to the fresh appeal it teased, the film finally arrives.

Bringing together all of the Muppets, by way of introducing a new Muppet character named Walter, the film reunites the motley crew of characters in all of their chromatic, stringed beauty.

In this reboot outing, zealous Muppet fan Jason Segel was enlisted by Disney to bring the Muppets out of retirement.

In addition to writing the script, Segel also stars as the childlike Gary, Walter’s brother. Gary and longtime girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) are planning to go to Los Angeles in order to celebrate their 10th anniversary. But Gary is afraid to leave Walter at home, and persuades a reluctant Mary to allow him to come along.

In Los Angeles, the three venture to the Muppets’ old studio. As a fervent fan, Walter is horrified to find the place so ramshackle and cobweb-filled. He overhears the film’s villain, Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), with a grin hanging off his face, laying out his plan to bulldoze the place and drill for oil beneath it.

This prompts the trio to locate Kermit, now inhabiting a vast mansion, and break the dire news: in order to save the studio, the Muppets must raise 10 million dollars.

Directed by James Bobin (“Flight of the Conchords” and “Da Ali G Show”) with a script written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller (director of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”), “The Muppets” are revived in the most ginger of manners.

Like other Muppet movies, this one also contains many endearing songs, such as the bubbly “Life’s a Happy Song,” and the existentialist number “Am I a Man or a Muppet?” and even a Tex Richman rap number.

Bret McKenzie, half of the Flight of the Conchords duo, lends his lyricism to the film serving as musical supervisor. The new songs are splendid, but of course the old songs are here too. “The Rainbow Connection” and “Mah Na Mah Na” couldn’t be left out of the mix.

Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” makes an appearance, with the Barbershop Quartet as confused over the lyrics as Nirvana was. Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You” is also performed in a fowl way.

To collect the slew of Muppets, a road trip takes place, half of it done via montage, at Kermit’s suggestion. Fozzie Bear is singing in Reno, Gonzo is the head of a plumbing company, Animal is in a celebrity anger management group and Miss Piggy is at Vogue in Paris.

After pitching their circumstances to a TV executive (Rashida Jones), who tells the Muppets they’re no longer relevant, the Muppets are given a block of time to fill after an emergency cancellation. In order to raise the ten million, the Muppets settle on a telethon.

The film’s plot points are revealed quickly and wittily, as if to save the audience the trouble of suffering through unavoidable clichés.

And with lines such as “This is going to be a really short movie,” and Tex Richman feeding his henchmen the line, “maniacal laugh,” the film offers an unusually self-aware appeal.

Keeping with their continuity of celebrity guest stars, “The Muppets” is bountiful in them. Featuring Jack Black as the celebrity host of the telethon, Zach Galifianakis as Hobo Joe, John Krasinski, Neil Patrick Harris and many more make appearances throughout the film.

The Muppets know their situation well. Fully cognizant they have been out of the public eye for so long, they work to earn our laughs again.

There’s lots of fun to be had with “The Muppets.” The new songs are crisp and the cast is full of pleasantries. And Walter, in his timid behavior, ushers in the Muppets for a new generation with proficiency.

Grade: A-

Posted by Nick Widener on Dec 1 2011. Filed under Features, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.