Movie One Hundred Forty Seven
In The Muppets, an evil oil baron wants to destroy the Muppet Studios and the Muppet gang get help from their greatest fan.
As kids, Walter (voiced by Peter Linz) and his brother, Gary (Jason Segel), were huge Muppet fans. As grown-ups, Gary and his girlfriend, Mary (Amy Adams), travel to Los Angeles for their anniversary and Walter comes along so they can finally visit the Muppet Studio. Upon arriving and finding the studio all but abandoned and forgotten, Walter overhears Tex Richman’s (Chris Cooper) plan to buy and demolish the studio to drill for oil. Walter seeks out Kermit the Frog and together, they must reunite the whole Muppet gang to put on a benefit show to win the studio back.
I think one would be hard pressed to find someone that doesn’t know the Muppets and one of the key aspects of The Muppets is that they are past their prime and are but a memory for most people. Their more recent movies have been decent but mostly forgettable and with this film, the unique brand of humor and wonder are back. Segel, who also co-wrote the film clearly loves the source material and stays true to the characters we know and love.
Possibly the biggest surprise for The Muppets is the soundtrack. While I suppose it could be considered a musical I’m not sure I would fully agree. There are plenty of songs but they don’t seem out of place, with the exception of Tex Richman rapping, which is just embarrassing. Bret McKenzie, best known for his work in Flight of the Conchords, has the perfect style and sense of humor for The Muppets. There are several songs that you may find yourself whistling or humming days later.
The best praise I can give The Muppets is that it is both refreshing and nostalgic. It doesn’t rely on knowing anything about the characters, but familiarity is certainly a plus. The humor is appropriate for nearly all ages but is not what I would consider childish. Few films can make you laugh and make you feel good while also tying to a piece of childhood memories, but The Muppets does that for me.
I give it 5 mehna mehnas out of 5.
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Oh my gosh I could not disagree more. I thought this movie was a massive disappointment. It was awkward, not funny, and just relied on too much nostalgia for my liking. I wanted to like it, I really did. It was just way too unfunny.
Aw man, sorry to hear this one didn’t do it for you. I guess that’s the problem with comedies reliance on the audience finding the humor.
I am a big fan of movies relying on nostalgia, but that can’t be the backbone of the film. You can’t alienate new-comers – it just isn’t smart.
After just posting my comment about ring the only person on the planet to dislike this, I noticed your comment. Thank god! I don’t feel alone on this one anymore.
Yeah I don’t get all the love that this movie gets. I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one!
I loved this movie as well. The only sad thing is that Segel spent so much time and energy making sure this one was so great that he won’t work on a sequel/follow-up. “Am I a Man or am I a Muppet?” always gets stuck in my head for days after seeing this.
Oh, I didn’t know Segel won’t be working on any follow-ups. That’s disappointing. Yesterday for no reason I was singing “AM I MAAAAAAAAAAN” at the top of my lungs in my house.
Segel essentially said that he said all that he could say about the Muppets with this movie and has other projects that he’s working on. Disney is looking for others to do the follow-up.
Well, that’s a shame but I don’t think they should have too much trouble finding someone else to carry the torch. Hopefully Bret McKenzie will stay on for the music composition.
I really liked this one. I never was a big Muppets enthusiast, but found myself enjoying the film, epsecially the songs written by Flight of the Concords’ Bret McKenzie. Nice review.
So far, I’m the only person on the planet that didn’t like this Andy. I thought the focus was too much on the live actors and not enough actual muppets. Other than a few good gags, I wasn’t impressed.
I think that’s a fair assessment, Mark. When I saw it in theaters I left wanting more of the Muppets themselves but for some reason, for the second time through it didn’t matter to me as much. I have yet to dive into many of the special features on the Blu-Ray, but I hope for more of their story.
I truly enjoyed this movie. It was fun and I felt it was welcoming to younger children. I have friend’s whose children still quote it to this day. Which I find odd since young children have an attention span of two minutes.
I love your rating scale on this one of “mehna mehnas” it really made me laugh. i have been meaning to see this movie just haven’t gotten around to it. I loved the muppets as a kid. Guess it’s time to rekindle some of those memories. Nice write up!
Thanks! If you grew up with the Muppets, this should hopefully be a treat
I have this one sitting upstairs waiting to be watched and reviewed. I rarely find anyone who seems to dislike it. I hope I am one who loves it as well. This sounds like a blast. Great review.
I think/hope you like it!
So good I want to watch it again. I am going to write a review on it soon.
Ha, awesome!
I really enjoyed The Muppets. It even made my top 10 list for films last year, I liked it so much! It definitely does what you say it does — that combination of humor and nostalgia that just makes you smile. The humor is pitch perfect, and I’m not gonna lie, I laughed at Tex Richman rapping after I got over my surprise from it! Ha! Good review, Andy!
Oh, I burst out laughing when he started rapping the first time I saw it and then I was just embarrassed by it. The second time I watched it I think I was just cringing the whole time. It’s just…Weird.
Thanks!
I’m no muppet fanatic but still found this pretty enjoyable, and sharply scripted in places. However, it’s far from a 5/5 ie. perfect movie.
Yeah, there is a blooper reel in the extras on the Blu-Ray that is almost more funny than anything in the film because it is all ad lib.
Also…I should put up a page explaining my considerations for my review scores. A 5/5 to ME isn’t a perfect movie, merely one that I could watch any time, regardless of mood and one that I would own on home video. I may have to write that up sooner rather than later.
My sister’s rented this movie, and my dad and I rented Man on a Ledge. Unfortunately I couldn’t watch this one after MOAL, and I felt awkwardly disappointed. From the first five minutes it looked hilarious. Haha. So I’m dropping by movie blogs to let the WordPress critics know about the 50 States Project. If you haven’t heard of it yet, drop by my blog and see what it’s about. I think you may be interested. Great review, makes me regret not watching this movie even more.
Yeah, you missed out! Thanks for reading!
I will check it out, absolutely
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I didn’t know what to expect as I knew the characters but had never watched an actual Muppet show or movie. This one is the embodiment of joy. I liked it a lot because it was funny but not dumb, and self-aware without being annoying. It’s unbelievably cute and just so enjoyable. The cast is great and the songs are catchy (even though I hated “Man or Muppet”).