It’s The Muppets Review with our very special reviewer….Matthew Fong! *Kermit spaz* It’s time to play the music. It’s time to light the lights. It’s time to meet The Muppets on The Muppet Review tonight. It’s time to put on makeup. It’s time to dress up right. It’s time to get things started on the most sensational inspirational celebrational Muppetational – this is what we call The Muppets Review! After over a decade, The Muppets are back on the big screen and the movie meets all expectations. It was a joy to sit back and watch these guys perform in their usual comedic way with a gigantic smile on my face from beginning to end (of my face and length of the movie – har har – you can expect plenty of corny jokes like that in the movie). Jason Segel (who also stars in the movie) did an amazing job alongside Nicholas Stoller creating this story which would have made Jim Henson proud…and laugh.
Starting in Smalltown, USA, we meet Walter, who is the muppet brother of Gary (Jason Segel). He’s always been different but once he saw The Muppets on TV, he fell in love and inspired…they were his instant heroes. One day, Gary, his girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) and Walter travel to LA where they tour the abandoned Muppets Studio only to find out that Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) was going to buy the property because he knew there was oil underneath! So the trio rushes to find Kermit the Frog and get the gang back together for one last show to save the studio.
Walter, Amy Adams and Jason Segel with their hater blockers in Los Angeles
The plot is as goofy as any kid’s movie but that doesn’t matter…the movie makes fun of itself for that as well as everything else it does. It’s incredibly meta as it keeps referring to itself in a humorous way: “This is going to be a very short movie,” “Wow, that was a big explosion, I can’t believe we had money for that in the budget.” It maintained it’s classic poise with memorable skits and character nuances while throwing in some up to date commentary to keep it fresh and relevant. My favorite classics were Bunsen and Beaker and Rowlf being exciting as ever while my favorite current jokes were a Fozzie Bear-impostor like rapper Waka Flocka Flame (Wocka Wocka), Scooter having a job at Google, and a rendition of Cee Lo Green’s “F* You” performed by Camilla and the Chickens that I’d like to dub “Pluck You.”
Rowlf is awesome
The entire movie is littered with cameo after cameo after cameo…you never know who’s going to pop up next. That goes for both humans AND Muppets – they tried to put squeeze every single puppet into this movie. All of the big names are there as well as really obscure muppets you can’t remember the names of. They might just sing a line in one of the many musical numbers which come in and out with no notice. Some of the songs are extremely weird but all have such funny and spot on lyrics. The feel of the movie is a bit over the top vaudeville (think jazz hands) but it really works in a playful self-depreciating kind of way. You start off in Smalltown with ridiculously bright colors and plastic emotions you can remember from shows from children shows of the 70s and 80s. And your led through this whole story by the over-zealous Gary which is the most innocent Muppet of a man. The movie just oozes good vibes and fun times.
Extra points if you can name every Muppet in the room
The Muppets is obviously great for kids but reminiscent for adults – they always do a great job entertaining all age groups with their dry, multiple-meaning humor. Anybody who even thinks they remember the Muppets should go watch this movie and bring along someone who has never heard of The Muppets before (especially your kids)…they’re “not famous anymore.” There are tons of life lessons from this one including: acceptance of being different, caring for #1 (yourself and the most important person in your life), teamwork, trying/not giving up, and celebrities are not persons. I’m not going to say that this movie is perfect, I got scared a little in the movie for it was losing the audience, but as a whole it was incredible to hear both grown men and little girls blasting out with laughter. Mahna Mahna.
Tags: Amy Adams, Beaker, Bunsen, Camilla, Cee Lo Green, Chickens, Chris Cooper, Fozzie Bear, Jason Segel, Kermit, Nicholas Stoller, Rowlf, Scooter, The Muppets, Waka Flocka Flame, Walter, Wocka Wocka
Matthew Fong created advancescreenings.com and is the lead contributor. He watches every type of movie and will try almost anything twice. You can follow him on twitter here: @matthewfong
