It’s been along time since The Muppets graced the big screen and entertained America with Fozzie bad jokes or Gonzo the Great’s weird stunts. The world has changed a lot too since The Muppets was a big deal in the world. Over the years they kind of faded into void, After the Disney bought them it seems like the Mouse didn’t know what to do with them in the kingdom. But now it seems that all they need was a fan with a little juice to go there and prove that world needed the Kermit and the Gang to play the music and light the lights.
Jason Segel plays Gary a man who lives with his brother Walter, who’s a puppet that no one brings up. They live in a place called Smalltown, a place that follows Gary and Walter’s lead in grand musical numbers throughout the town. Gary loves Mary (Amy Adams) who’s a super grade school teacher. Gary plans to take Mary to Los Angeles for their 10-year anniversary and to take his brother Walter, the biggest Muppet fan in the whole world with them so he can go to Muppet Studios. After getting LA, all three go to Muppets studios and see it in great disrepair.
Like in our world it seems that the Muppet Studios haven’t been in use since the show went off the air. At the Studios Walter finds out that an evil Oil Business tycoon Tex Richman is planning on buying the lot and tearing it all down to drill for oil. Walter, Gary and Mary then decide to find Kermit to get him to save the Studios. After they find him they convince him to get the gang back together to put on one great show to save the Muppet Studios from Tex Richman.
Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller deserve some real credit here for writing a very fun and enjoyable movie. From start to finish this movie felt like classic Muppet movie and the TV show. They perfectly worked in great songs and little Meta inside jokes about the fact that Muppets have been absent for so long in the entertainment world. James Bobin did a really good job of keeping the movie moving and light. We also get to see Chris Cooper rap and that is really really dope.
The movie felt like two parts, one a new Muppet movie that felt like the first three and the second half like a big screen version of the classic Muppet Show done like A Prairie Home Companion. You see a lot of the backstage stuff like in the old show but it still relates to the story. Some of the star cameos didn’t work but overall there are so many that none of the feel forced. The Muppets all felt and sounded like the characters everyone has known and loved for years.
This movie is a great return of great characters to stage that entertain both old and bring in new fans to the felt world of Jim Henson.
Final Grade is B+
Originally published on Reel Film News