The return of the Muppet puppets
They are back and as good as ever!
Director James Bobin Screenwriters Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller, Jim Henson Cast Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper
They’re back! YES! The fantastic Muppets gang are back on the big screen with a whole new feature length movie for the first time in some years. Yes the story is ridiculous, yes the jokes are cheesy, yes the whole thing is mental but come on – you’ve got to admit you’ve missed them.
In this latest tale of hilarity, the Muppets’ greatest fan Walter (Peter Linz), who is himself a muppet from Smalltown, USA, is on holiday in Hollywood with his ridiculously dense brother, Gary (Segel) and Gary’s also pretty dim fiancée Mary (Adams) – both of whom are human, by the way – when he learns that the old Muppets’ Theatre is closed and about to be razed by an evil Texas tycoon, the imaginatively named Tex Richman (Cooper), who wants to drill in the area for oil. Horrified, Walter and Gary search out Kermit (Steve Whitmire), who is depressed from his dull post-theatre life, and together they round up the old Muppets Gang.
They find Fozzie Bear (Eric Jacobson) playing with a tribute group called the Moopets in Reno, Gonzo (Dave Goelz) running a firm selling toilet bowls and Miss Piggy (Jacobson again) editing Paris Vogue. Among the guest stars is Emily Blunt, amusingly reprising her role from The Devil Wears Prada as Miss Piggy’s secretary. Can the old gang pull together for one last show and raise the $10m needed to buy back the old studio from Tex Richman?
The film is actually cleverly done. Using the Muppets’ long absence from the television as a premise, this film neatly taps into us old nostalgic former fans, who still feel for these anarchic and loveable characters, whilst also winning over new followers. And even though it’s very silly, it’s still hugely enjoyable. The film’s humour and big-heartedness are refreshingly disingenuous, the self-referential jokes very well-handled.
As it always has been, the beauty of the Muppet is the insincerity; in fact the only sincere thing about it is the affection emanating from the audience.
