The writing/directing team of Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller and James Bobin do an excellent job at reviving a revered franchise for the 21st Century. They mainly made a fan film without it being sappy or maudlin; a frequent pitfall when an admirer gets to take a bite of the proverbial apple. I think Jim would’ve liked what this trio did with the characters he co-created. However, I will leave such a judgment to those who knew Henson’s real personality better. Frank Oz made his opinion known earlier by not providing the voices of Fozzie, Miss Piggy and Animal.
The Muppets starts out giving a quick exposition explaining why the new Muppet character Walter is obsessed with Kermit and the gang. When Walter, his brother Gary and Mary (Gary’s long-time girlfriend) take a vacation to Los Angeles, they use the opportunity to tour the famed Muppet Studios. Instead of finding a vibrant, active production facility, they see a dilapidated, abandoned mess. I would say the rather forgettable Muppets From Space in 1999 caused this but there have been a couple other direct-to-video features to keep the characters in circulation. Walter breaks off from the tour group to explore the ruins of Kermit’s office and overhears Mr. Richman’s evil plans: raze the joint and drill for the oil underneath.
Then The Muppets shifts into an Garland-Rooney-let’s-put-on-a-show musical to save the property. First step, find all the core characters Kermit lost touch with. Second step, resolve the conflicts which led to the disbanding. Last step, put on the show. It may be a predictable plot but it shines in the execution.
The Muppets borrows heavily on the original 1979 movie by sprinkling in contemporary cameos; you’ll have to guess them should you see it. One I took issue with was from Selena Gomez. Firstly, she was put in there to shill Disney’s mediocre tweener crap (she is their current indentured slave now that Miley Cyrus is over). Secondly, as I’ve argued with others, Disney’s marketing people pushed this because nobody other than Whoopi Goldberg stated her/his name to the audience. In Whoopi’s defense, there was a self-deprecating joke. I didn’t dwell on it and let this ruin the movie for me yet I think it’s worth noting that product-placement is getting out of control.
What I considered the bigger shift away from the traditional Henson-esque storytelling was through the music. Many of the plot’s key tunes were composed by Bret McKenzie (one half of Flight of the Conchords) and if you’re familiar with his work, you can hear his DNA in the songs’ humor. I was surprised Disney allowed him to be chosen. Much of FotC’s stuff is not suitable for children…yet I’m sure you may hear some lyrics repeated on various playgrounds.
Worth Seeing? Absolutely! It’s the first Muppet feature I’ve wholeheartedly recommended since 1996’s Muppet Treasure Island (there are Muppet-purists who beg to differ). Then comes the ultimate endorsement, it’s best seen at the Alamo Drafthouse. Somara and I took in the 10 AM show, arrived as soon as they opened so we could watch all the snippets: the old Wilkins Coffee ads, segments from the Jimmy Dean Show, musical segments from The Muppet Show (Steve Martin & Alice Cooper) and the tear-jerking tribute Jim Henson had at his funeral. The latter probably softened me up to choke back a few sobs when “Rainbow Connection” is performed near the climatic finale.
Epilogue: Next year (or next review, I don’t know if there’s anything worth seeing until 2012 personally), I am going to change the format on how I write these reviews. I plan to just cut to the chase on whether or not I liked the movie, then explain the reasons and give the highlights. Unlike Roger Ebert, a critic I respect, I’m not a fast writer nor as articulate as he is. (This latest post took a week to do and a couple movies over the last couple years were just skipped, namely The Dark Knight.) I can’t lead up to a final assessment like he can unless I did it full time at Ebert’s salary.