Muppets Most Wanted (Review)
Muppets Most Wanted
2014
Written by James Bobin and Nicholas Stoller
Directed by James Bobin
The Muppets return again with a new adventure that feels strangely familiar. While it is great to see the Muppets actually being the stars of their movies again, Muppets Most Wanted lacks the emotional depth of some of the prior films to focus instead on a heist caper that features an evil twin and Muppets running wild under no supervision. The center core is buried a bit deeper, showing the Muppets can’t really survive on their own as they need Kermit’s guidance to keep them from drowning in their own excess.
In Muppets Most Wanted a new manager – Dominic Badguy – signs with the group and gets them to go on a world tour that suspiciously is happening in towns needed to get pieces for a jewel heist. More importantly, Constantine, the world’s most dangerous frog, has escaped from his Russian gulag and managed to switch places with Kermit, who finds himself incarcerated while Constantine takes the place of our main frog. Hijinks then ensue.
Muppets Most Wanted shines when it’s doing meta-commentary and breaking the never-present fourth wall. It continues literally from the final seconds of The Muppets, complete with Muppet confusion on what to do next. The opening song will go on to be touted as a manifesto for the film itself, and I particularly like the song Constantine sings as an apology to Miss Piggy, because it summarizes his entire allure to the group and why no one seems to notice anything is wrong. Constantine becomes a Satan character, promising the Muppets whatever they want to keep them happy while he and Dominic Badguy plot to steal the crown jewels of England. The various characters take this to extremes, resulting in increasingly bizarre and disastrous acts. Both Constantine and Dominic use unbridled freedom as a weapon and a distraction, but it soon becomes apparent just why oversight and control is needed. At times Muppets Most Wanted turns into Muppets Needful Things, but luckily things get solved for they start getting Stephen King disturbing.
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1 comment - What do you think?
Posted by Tars Tarkas -
March 21, 2014 at 11:28 pm
Categories: Good, Movie Reviews Tags: Bill Barretta, Chloë Moretz, Christoph Waltz, Danny Trejo, David Rudman, Eric Jacobson, Frank Langella, James Bobin, Jemaine Clement, Lady Gaga, Matt Vogel, Muppets, Nicholas Stoller, Peter Linz, Ray Liotta, Ricky Gervais, Rob Corddry, Ross Lynch, Salma Hayek, Steve Whitmire, Tina Fey, Tom Hiddleston, Tony Bennett, Ty Burrell, Zach Galifianakis
The Muppets (Review)
The Muppets
2011
Directed by James Bobin
Written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller
After a far-too-long absence at the theater (I remember going to see Muppets From Space in a deserted theater like it was yesterday…), the Muppets return to the big screen in a big way. And as you can guess from the mention of seeing Muppets From Space, I’m a huge Muppets fan. Enough that I can rattle off obscure background Muppets and spot errors on the Muppet wiki. But I’m putting the fanboy aside to give a nice objective review. And that review is positive. Not because I liked the film (I did), but because it’s a good film.
The Muppets are more than just puppets, just entertainment for kids. The Muppets are entertainment for all ages, treating the audience of all ages with respect and dignity. They may not have invented that kind of entertainment, but they rode it to a new plateau. Jim Henson was never afraid to tread new ground, always experimenting and improving, wanting to put out quality products that appealed to everyone.
As for the Pixar short before it – most of the jokes seem to be just the concepts of the fast food toy characters rather than actual story. But it is funny and does deal with abandonment issued and support groups. And some of those toys look like they come from neat fake franchises. I should just design fake Happy Meal toys as a hobby…
It’s time to start the music…
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3 comments - What do you think?
Posted by Tars Tarkas -
November 24, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Categories: Good, Movie Reviews Tags: Alan Arkin, Amy Adams, Bill Barretta, Bill Cobbs, Chris Cooper, Dave Goelz, David Grohl, David Rudman, Donald Glover, Emily Blunt, Eric Jacobson, James Carville, Jason Segel, Jim Henson, Jim Parsons, John Krasinski, Judd Hirsch, Ken Jeong, Matt Vogel, Mickey Rooney, Muppets, Neil Patrick Harris, Nicholas Stoller, Peter Linz, Rashida Jones, Sarah Silverman, Selena Gomez, Steve Whitmire, Whoopi Goldberg, Zach Galifianakis