Muppets Most Wanted
Directed by: James Bobin
Written by: James Bobin, Nicholas Stoller
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, Tina Fey, Jemaine Clement, Ray Liotta, Danny Trejo - Voices by: Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, David Rudman, Matt Vogel, Peter Linz
Adventure/Comedy/Crime/Family/Musical - 112 min
Written by: James Bobin, Nicholas Stoller
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, Tina Fey, Jemaine Clement, Ray Liotta, Danny Trejo - Voices by: Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, David Rudman, Matt Vogel, Peter Linz
Adventure/Comedy/Crime/Family/Musical - 112 min
The lead-off song from the new Muppet movie, Muppets Most Wanted, tells the audience the filmmakers are in on the joke too. Titled “We’re Making a Sequel,” some of the lyrics say the previous film made so much money they had to make another movie and it will not be as good, like most sequels. Bunson pops up to remind the more observant that this movie is actually the seventh sequel to the 1979 original. I agree with the song, Muppets Most Wanted is not as good as 2011’s The Muppets and it is not because of the law of diminishing returns, it is because the plot is a lame duck…or frog.
The humans, the likeable Jason Segal and Amy Adams, from The Muppets are gone and replaced by Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, and Ty Burrell. There are also celebrity cameos every few minutes which allow you to play the game of ‘name that famous person’ to keep your mind busy. The game is not too distracting from the story because the main arc chugs along slow enough it gives you something to do while waiting for something to happen on screen.
Now that the Muppets are a successful group again and have name recognition, they opt to go on a world tour organized by their new manager, Dominic Badguy, pronounced ‘Bahd-jee’ (Gervais). Using the tour as a front and to frame the Muppets, Dominic and his newly escaped partner in crime, Constantine, steal various cultural artifacts in route to their ultimate goal, London’s crown jewels. Constantine, by the way, looks identical to Kermit the Frog except for a distinguishing mole on his cheek. Kermit is mistaken for Constantine and swept off to Siberia to serve a long prison term in a harsh gulag.
The gulag scenes are far more effective than the Muppets European tour sequences. The prison camp, run by Nadya (Tiny Fey) with a corresponding sharp Russian accent, houses a group of violent, bitter convicts including Ray Liotta, Danny Trejo, and Jemaine Clement. Clement is the other half of the New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords opposite Bret McKenzie who not only wrote the original songs for this film, but won an Academy Award for the song “Man or Muppet” from the previous movie.
The city-hopping Muppets in Europe are mostly bland and lack any consistent humor but a bumbling Interpol agent played by Ty Burrell working alongside CIA agent Sam the Eagle gets a few chuckles with his knocks on the stereotypes of the European work ethic and vacation schedule. Their song, the aptly titled “Interrogation Song”, is a highlight compared to some duds including a long ditty between Gervais and Constantine about who is #1 and who is #2. The strongest musical numbers are performed by the prisoners in the Russian scenes including covers of “I Hope I Get It” from A Chorus Line and “Working in the Coal Mine”.
There is a noticeable difference between the 2011 reboot and Muppets Most Wanted and it is not an increase or decrease of human screen time vs. Muppet screen time; it is about soul. The films have the same director, James Bobin, and the same writers, Bobin and Nicholas Stoller. The Kermit/Constantine switcheroo does not work very well and it more than just a stale idea. Constantine is unsettling. The Muppets usually battle to get their show back on track as in 1979’s The Muppet Movie and 1984’s The Muppets Take Manhattan. Kermit lost his memory in that one and it was far less creepy than a Russian Kermit terrorist. Now that their show is on track but throws over their beloved leader, I found myself agreeing more and more with my two favorite characters, the box seat critics Statler and Waldorf.
2011’s The Muppets worked. Was it because the Muppets were absent from the big screen for more than a decade? I don’t think so; it was more an effective script. A look-alike evil Kermit is an idea which seems impossible no matter how you try to bring it across. There are some truly effective sight gags and new songs in the latest iteration, but heed the title song, the sequel is less than the original.
The humans, the likeable Jason Segal and Amy Adams, from The Muppets are gone and replaced by Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, and Ty Burrell. There are also celebrity cameos every few minutes which allow you to play the game of ‘name that famous person’ to keep your mind busy. The game is not too distracting from the story because the main arc chugs along slow enough it gives you something to do while waiting for something to happen on screen.
Now that the Muppets are a successful group again and have name recognition, they opt to go on a world tour organized by their new manager, Dominic Badguy, pronounced ‘Bahd-jee’ (Gervais). Using the tour as a front and to frame the Muppets, Dominic and his newly escaped partner in crime, Constantine, steal various cultural artifacts in route to their ultimate goal, London’s crown jewels. Constantine, by the way, looks identical to Kermit the Frog except for a distinguishing mole on his cheek. Kermit is mistaken for Constantine and swept off to Siberia to serve a long prison term in a harsh gulag.
The gulag scenes are far more effective than the Muppets European tour sequences. The prison camp, run by Nadya (Tiny Fey) with a corresponding sharp Russian accent, houses a group of violent, bitter convicts including Ray Liotta, Danny Trejo, and Jemaine Clement. Clement is the other half of the New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords opposite Bret McKenzie who not only wrote the original songs for this film, but won an Academy Award for the song “Man or Muppet” from the previous movie.
The city-hopping Muppets in Europe are mostly bland and lack any consistent humor but a bumbling Interpol agent played by Ty Burrell working alongside CIA agent Sam the Eagle gets a few chuckles with his knocks on the stereotypes of the European work ethic and vacation schedule. Their song, the aptly titled “Interrogation Song”, is a highlight compared to some duds including a long ditty between Gervais and Constantine about who is #1 and who is #2. The strongest musical numbers are performed by the prisoners in the Russian scenes including covers of “I Hope I Get It” from A Chorus Line and “Working in the Coal Mine”.
There is a noticeable difference between the 2011 reboot and Muppets Most Wanted and it is not an increase or decrease of human screen time vs. Muppet screen time; it is about soul. The films have the same director, James Bobin, and the same writers, Bobin and Nicholas Stoller. The Kermit/Constantine switcheroo does not work very well and it more than just a stale idea. Constantine is unsettling. The Muppets usually battle to get their show back on track as in 1979’s The Muppet Movie and 1984’s The Muppets Take Manhattan. Kermit lost his memory in that one and it was far less creepy than a Russian Kermit terrorist. Now that their show is on track but throws over their beloved leader, I found myself agreeing more and more with my two favorite characters, the box seat critics Statler and Waldorf.
2011’s The Muppets worked. Was it because the Muppets were absent from the big screen for more than a decade? I don’t think so; it was more an effective script. A look-alike evil Kermit is an idea which seems impossible no matter how you try to bring it across. There are some truly effective sight gags and new songs in the latest iteration, but heed the title song, the sequel is less than the original.
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