Movie Review: The Muppets

Movie Review: The Muppets
Owned by Disney, used by me.

Now I love the muppets. Having watched the legendary film that is Muppets Christmas Carol every Christmas Eve since about 1994 (one more sleep till Christmas!) my hope was high with this that the muppets would finally recapture the magic and finally once again have a good film. Years of poor book adaptations like Wizard of Oz and Treasure Island had tarnished their reputation but hopes were high with this as this was the first film to feature the muppets in their true form since the 80s.

As everyone knows Disney purchased the rights to the muppet brand in 2004 so combine one of the wackiest shows ever to have existed and the traditional brand of true Disney magic and this should be a match made in heaven and thankfully it is. This is a gloriously entertaining film putting the muppets brand back on the map.

We begin with a brand new muppet called Walter (Peter Linz) who lives with his human brother Gary (Jason Segel) but always feels left out for being different by everyone else until discovering the original muppet show and finds beings just like him and rapidly becomes the worlds biggest muppets fan. As the years go by obviously his brother Gary gets older and gets a girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) but Walter doesnt and remains just as big a muppets fan. What no-one tells him however is, matching reality, the muppet show doesnt exist any more and the muppets brand has fallen. When Walter eventually realises the truth, when the three go on holiday to Hollywood and make a visit to the original muppet theatre only to find it run down and largely abandoned, Walter makes a decision to gather the gang back together and put the muppet show back on to try and raise the money required ($10m) and prevent the theatre falling into the hands of millionaire businessman Tex Richman who plans to tear the whole thing down.

What follows is brilliant as beginning with the return of the legendary Kermit the Frog gradually each member of the gang is introduced individually until finally the gang go to France and we have the return of the queen diva herself Miss Piggy and the muppets are back.

The best moment of this film is when we have the whole crowd together and the original famous music hits and it really is time once again to 'play the music and light the lights' as the rest of the movie, in a brilliant move by director James Bobin, is virtually given over to what feels like the first new episode of the muppet show in 30 years. Highlight of which for me has to be a barber shop quartet doing a barber shop style version of the nirvana classic Smells like teen spirit which works even though it really shouldn't.  Cue in a suitably ulifting ending, although as is fitting not exactly as we may be expecting, and we have a greatly entertaining movie.

With great music (the song Man or Muppet even won the oscar for best original song), great comedy and the return of one of the greatest assembled cast of characters of all time this is a full and glorious comeback for the muppets and with a sequel already being written due to demand it appears that we will be meeting the muppets and starting the show quite alot in the next few years, and this reviewer for one is absolutely thrilled.