One of the great things about Jim Henson's Muppets
shows and films was really just how much of the Muppets there were in
them. Sure, humans continually popped into frame -- whether it was Steve
Martin mugging for his ten seconds of screen time or Charles Grodin
playing baddie. But mostly Henson stuck to his gloriously personable
sock puppet weirdos destroying the set or bringing the house down with a
big musical number. So while it's fantastic to see Jason Segel bringing
the guys back to the big screen in proper form, it's disconcerting to
see humans so prominently displayed. Amy Adams certainly does pull off a
sweet solo number with admirable flash, but wouldn't it have been
better with a backup chorus led by Rizzo the Rat?
Segel stars in and wrote this snarky-smart film, and he
deserves credit for bringing back a franchise that had been driven into
the ground by the uninspired likes of Muppet Treasure Island -- and with
no less a creativity-killer behind him than the Muppets' new bosses:
Disney. A soft-featured giant with a penchant for innocent-faced hangdog
types, Segel plays Gary, mild-mannered resident of Smalltown whose
brother Walter just so happens to be a Muppet who's obsessed with the TV
Muppets. Gary agrees to bring Walter along on the anniversary trip he
and his longtime girlfriend Mary (Adams, beaming to beat the sun) are
taking to Los Angeles, blithely ignoring Mary's total disatisfaction
with the arrangement.
A high-stepping song in which Gary and Walter sing about how perfect everything is kicks things off like a chirpy, hard-working Broadway musical. The smiles are stretched as wide as an IMAX screen and an air of mildly trippy surrealism pervades (perhaps the film's best nod to the original 1979 film). Disappointment looms when Walter discovers that the Muppet theater is a run-down dusty shell on Hollywood boulevard, and the old gang scattered to the winds. That blow is followed up by the arrival of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), who's exploiting a loophole in the Muppets contract that gives him control of the theater -- and the oil deposits underneath -- if the Muppets can't raise $10 million in a few days.
Like a latter-day Blues Brothers, the film quickly pivots into "we're getting the band back together mode," always a convenient excuse for giving a large cast of characters their moment to shine. As great as it is to see Miss Piggy swanning around the Paris offices of Vogue and Gonzo as a filthy rich toilet magnate, though, Segel earns extra points for imagining Animal in anger management class ("Jack Black says no drums!").
Segel and director James Bobin set the mood to full, beaming grins. All this sunshine is layered with gags that mostly zing (Kermit blowing dust off his old guest-star rolodex and calling up President Carter is a nice touch) but don't come as fast and thick as they could. Surprisingly, given Bobin's experience directing Flight of the Conchords, he doesn't pack the film with songs. Earlier films like The Great Muppet Carpet had so many production numbers they were essentially musicals. The Muppets has just a few original numbers, including one with Cooper that could be the best solid minute of film audiences will see all year, padded out with covers ranging from the good (Gonzo's chickens doing Cee-Lo) to the sublime (a barbershop quartet rendition of "Smells Like Teen Spirit").
The Muppets is most satisfying the closer it hews to the glorious chaos of the old TV show, a mood heavily replicated in its last third. That sense of flailing vaudeville anarchy is missed in the rest of the film, which is funny enough and even occasionally touching, but sometimes forgets the cardinal rule of any Muppets creation: the humans should be there for cameos and celebrity hosting, not to star.
A high-stepping song in which Gary and Walter sing about how perfect everything is kicks things off like a chirpy, hard-working Broadway musical. The smiles are stretched as wide as an IMAX screen and an air of mildly trippy surrealism pervades (perhaps the film's best nod to the original 1979 film). Disappointment looms when Walter discovers that the Muppet theater is a run-down dusty shell on Hollywood boulevard, and the old gang scattered to the winds. That blow is followed up by the arrival of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), who's exploiting a loophole in the Muppets contract that gives him control of the theater -- and the oil deposits underneath -- if the Muppets can't raise $10 million in a few days.
Like a latter-day Blues Brothers, the film quickly pivots into "we're getting the band back together mode," always a convenient excuse for giving a large cast of characters their moment to shine. As great as it is to see Miss Piggy swanning around the Paris offices of Vogue and Gonzo as a filthy rich toilet magnate, though, Segel earns extra points for imagining Animal in anger management class ("Jack Black says no drums!").
Segel and director James Bobin set the mood to full, beaming grins. All this sunshine is layered with gags that mostly zing (Kermit blowing dust off his old guest-star rolodex and calling up President Carter is a nice touch) but don't come as fast and thick as they could. Surprisingly, given Bobin's experience directing Flight of the Conchords, he doesn't pack the film with songs. Earlier films like The Great Muppet Carpet had so many production numbers they were essentially musicals. The Muppets has just a few original numbers, including one with Cooper that could be the best solid minute of film audiences will see all year, padded out with covers ranging from the good (Gonzo's chickens doing Cee-Lo) to the sublime (a barbershop quartet rendition of "Smells Like Teen Spirit").
The Muppets is most satisfying the closer it hews to the glorious chaos of the old TV show, a mood heavily replicated in its last third. That sense of flailing vaudeville anarchy is missed in the rest of the film, which is funny enough and even occasionally touching, but sometimes forgets the cardinal rule of any Muppets creation: the humans should be there for cameos and celebrity hosting, not to star.
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