It’s hard to mess up a concept as simple, engaging, and fun as the Muppets. Unfortunately, the American public seems to have forgotten that fact a little in the few decades since the Muppets were at the height of their popularity, choosing instead since the ‘90s to focus on less wholesome aspects of pop culture such as MTV, Comedy Central, and juicy celebrity gossip. The latest Muppet movie is aware of this, and the majority of the film is the juxtaposition of the more family friendly Muppets with modern day cynicism, with wildly entertaining results.
The movie begins with a montage showing the lives of brothers Gary and Walter. The fact that Gary, played by Jason Segal, is a man and his brother Walter is a Muppet is not ignored by the movie. That Gary and Walter can be brothers raises more questions than it answers, but the movie has little time to wax philosophical about the existence of Muppets in a world of humans, because soon we are introduced to Gary’s girlfriend, Mary (Amy Adams) which leads us to our first musical number. Yes, The Muppets is a musical, which shouldn’t be surprising since music has been a major part of The Muppets since the ‘70s, and almost every Muppet movie since The Muppet Movie has been a musical. What surprised me was the scope and scale of the musical numbers in The Muppets. Every song is big, fun, and very well performed. They pulled out all the stops to make this movie big.
After our first number explains in grand fashion how content the characters are with their lives, the movie finally gets a around to having a plot. Gary, Mary, and Walter are taking a trip to Hollywood to meet the Muppets. They finally meet Kermit, but not before Walter discovers a plot to tear down the Muppet studio and drill for oil. The plan is to save the studio by putting on one more show. Hilarity ensues. The Muppets is definitely worth seeing.
By Colin V.
By Colin V.
