Yeah, sorry. But I'm a bit of a Muppet fan...
Ever since hearing rumours of a new Muppet movie two years ago, I've kept an eye out for any news, good or bad, and tried my best remain hopeful of a much needed return to form. As anyone who watched anything offered since Muppets From Space will know, our fuzzy friends have been seriously lacking in the originality, fun, and most importantly, humour departments. As a kid, I, like thousands of others, couldn't get enough of the Muppets. We all know they're basically designed for children, however, there is one thing they seemed to lose track of in the last decade; and that is that The Muppet Show and all the movies were crammed to bursting point full of ridiculous, wall-breaking-direct-to-adults humour. Self-deprecating jokes that are designed to fly over the heads of the kiddies. And that, I am pleased to say, has finally come back.
The first piece of good news we got about the new film was that Jason Segel had written it, a man who is probably one of the brightest comedy writers around at the minute. The story of The Muppets is a basic, but solid one: the gang have lost their prime-time fame and, like so many TV, movie and music stars gone their separate ways. Now, upon super-fan Walter (a brand new Muppet character) discovering that the Muppet Studio are about to be torn down, heads on a quest to find and reunite the cast to put on one final telethon-style show to save their old home.
So thanks to this, we get a classic Muppet set-up: Kermit takes a more 'straight' role, in his battle with whether or not to fall for Miss Piggy; Jason Segel and Amy Adams do pretty much the same thing; Walter finds himself a new member of the cast; and the cast themselves are allowed to get on with all the shenanigans you'd expect. Yep, you see them all, even for just a little bit: Fozzie, Gonzo, The Swedish Chef, Animal...so naturally, that gives them the excuse to set up a montage movie spoof just like they used to.
Now, what with this being a Muppet movie, naturally it's a tad musical. But thankfully, they've left behind the slightly over-Disneyed ways of the past, and gone back to tongue-in-cheek cheesiness. There are a couple of numbers in there that you feel yourself slightly cringing through, until, that is, Segel shrugs knowingly at the camera...or you see Micky Rooney or Jim Parsons of all people turning up in the middle. They didn't win the Oscar for best original song for no reason, and you'll love the 'Muppet Or A Man' sequence, not least for the Segel/Muppet, Walter/Man (Parsons) segment.
The second piece of good news we got about the movie was the seemingly endless list of cameos we're treated too, just how it always used to be on the show. At different points we see...deep breath... Dave Grohl, Alan Arkin, Zach Galifianakis, Whoopi Goldberg, Emily Blunt, Selena Gomez, Neil Patrick Harris, Ken Jeong, Sarah Silverman, Kristen Schaal and Feist. A particularly highlight being Harris' exclamation of "Yeah, I don't know why I'm not hosting either" when answering a call on the telethon. Add to that the appearance of Jack Black...I'm not really sure you can call it a cameo, given that he's a pretty integral part of the plot, even if he doesn't really say more than 10 lines, but each of them is definitely worth it (just wait for his disgust at a particularly grungey Muppet performance). And the best thing about these cameos? Pretty much all of the stars asked to be in the picture, not the other way round. In fact, there were some seriously big names filmed, but what with time constraints looming over them, the producers had to cut their scenes. To name but a few of those cut: Ricky Gervais, Billy Crystal, Mila Kunis, Ben Stiller, Lady Gaga and Danny Trejo. Slightly disappointed we didn't get them all!
The only disappointment I had with The Muppets was that we really didn't see quite enough of the fuzzy cast. For example, Gonzo, who has been a main player in at least three of the Muppet movies, barely has five lines. Similarly, Rizzo the Rat has, unless I'm mistaken, no speaking role on screen. Our favourite old hecklers, Waldorf and Statler are also criminally underused, though admittedly hilarious in their brief appearance.
The true highlight of the film is the telethon itself: a 20 minute version of The Muppet Show, including opening titles. Nostalgia trip doesn't really do it justice though, because they've made sure to broaden their humour to snatch all ages of audience, whether that's through the mixed guests (Goldberg, Black and Gomez) or to the basic gags, subtle breaks and movie nods throughout, we're all included, and we all laugh.
Overall, yes, this movie hits the mark for future Muppet efforts. It brings back the laughter, it brings back the daftness, it needs to bring back some more of the characters, but hopefully, and I really mean hopefully, it'll bring back the Muppets. Kids love them, adults love them, but we forgot about them being in the big picture. Guilty pleasure or not, I don't care, anyone who hasn't smiled at a piece of Muppet slapstick, or a ludicrous cameo is someone not to be trusted in my eyes. Segel wrote this film to get the Muppets back where they belong, and he certainly managed it, now we want them to stick around. Who knows, you might just see The Muppet Show cropping back up on your TV screens some day.
4/5 - Brilliant at breaking you down to the basic levels of Muppet humour, and makes you enjoy what feels like going back in time, to when they were big TV stars. Only complaint I have is that you just don't see quite enough of some of the characters. Go see it, you'll feel appropriately all warm and fuzzy.
