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The Muppets have a long and storied history of a couple of struggling puppeteers (Jim Henson and Frank Oz) who created some lovable puppets they called "Muppets." The two got their big break doing a little show called Sesame Street. They parlayed that success into a long-running syndicated program (The Muppet Show) and finally made it to the big screen in The Muppet Movie in 1979. The combination of sweetness, charm and irreverence was irresistible to audiences which led to several sequels--each less successful than the last. Eventually the Muppets were bought by the Disney Corporation and relegated to the occasional TV Special and largely forgotten. This brings us to the present day where an actor by the name of Jason Segal entered the picture with a mission to "bring back" the Muppets.
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It's safe to say Segal has "mad love" for the Muppets. (Check out Forgetting Sarah Marshall if you don't believe me.) He approached Disney to revive the franchise and, Disney (being Disney and anxious to squeeze every penny out of all their creative properties) agreed. What emerged was a movie musical that could have come right out of Hollywood's Golden Age. The Muppets have gone their separate ways and it is up to Kermit the Frog, encouraged by an innocent (new Muppet Walter) to get the gang back together to "put on a show" to save the day. Will they succeed and give everyone a "happily-ever-after" ending by movie's end? Do I REALLY need to tell you? I don't think so...
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Jason Segal not only pushed for the movie to be made but he also stars and even wrote it! (Now that's mad love!) Sadly he created a cast of cardboard characters to go with the cloth Muppets. Each and every character exists for the sole purpose of moving the plot. That being said, he and the other leads (Amy Adams and Chris Cooper) do the best they can with what little they have to work with. I've got to give some special "props" to Cooper for taking on the comedic role of Tex Richman: he even manages to rap and do a bit of dancing. There's a raft of celebrity cameos (from Alan Arkin to Zack Galifanakis). My two favorites were Neil Patrick Harris ("I don't know why I'm not hosting this!" and Selina Gomez ("I don't know who you guys are--my Agent told me to show up here.")
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I really wanted to enjoy this movie more than I did: I hoped it would be a worth reboot but what I got was a lot of nostalgia. (As I was walking out of the theater Garden Party by Rick Nelson was running through my mind.) There were a lot of smiles but few laughs. Luckily I wasn't the only one who seemed to feel this way: the theater was crowded but I didn't hear a lot of laughter and there was a run on the exit as soon as the credits started rolling. The movie is a harmless diversion that anybody can see but it's nothing that needs you to rush to the theater to see. Maybe wait for the DVD to come out and watch it when you don't have anything better to do.
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FINAL GRADE: C+
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