Muppets Most Wanted
I got to see Muppets Most Wanted last night, which surprised me because my understanding was that it wasn't opening until today. So I don't know what happened there but I'm glad it did, because it was a wonderful movie. There was a line in the opening number about "You know the sequel's never quite as good." Don't you believe it; this movie was SO much better than The Muppets. And I really loved The Muppets, but this one was on a whole other level. [ETA]Ryan Roe points out in his "totally spoilery" review that this movie wasn't as nostalgic or sentimental as The Muppets, and I noticed that too. I didn't cry during Muppets Most Wanted, and that surprised me, because I think it's the first Muppet movie I haven't cried at, even just a little, since Jim Henson's death. (Muppet Christmas Carol, in particular, seems to be entirely comprised of tearjerker moments, and not in a good way.) I'm a little disappointed in this tearless reaction, but I'm not sure whether I'm disappointed in the movie or myself. That is to say, I hope it's just not the kind of movie that one cries at, and not an indication that I'm getting hard-hearted.
In particular I really loved that opening number, which mostly dispelled whatever lingering doubts I still had, with its bouncy satire and sly biting-the-hand humor (albeit good natured, of course). But my favorite part of the opening number was a line in which Bunsen Honeydew points out that this is actually the seventh sequel to the original movie, which is what I've been saying all along. At that moment, I decided that I want to marry Bret McKenzie.
Speaking of whom, when he wrote the songs, he was under the impression that the movie was going to be called The Muppets...Again, so he worked that into the lyrics of some of the songs. Then the studio changed the title to Muppets Most Wanted, so those references no longer made sense. If I'd known that at the time, I wouldn't have been quite as eager for them to change the title. However, I still think Muppets Most Wanted is a better title so, somewhat to my chagrin, I have to side with the studio on this one.
Everything on this movie was just really, really great: the music, the writing, the puppetry, the people. The human beings were all really good and didn't overstay their welcome, which is a danger for Muppet movies. Ty Burrell was brilliant, as I knew he would be. Tina Fey was hilarious, as always. Ricky Gervais didn't really have much to do but act sleazy, but he was very good at it. [Spoiler](He did get an action sequence at the film's climax where he pulls off a jewel heist with a bunch of 35-year-old babies.)
That's not to say that I loved everything about the movie. There were a few moments which I've just now decided that I'm going to call "fart shoes moments" from now on; i.e. gratuitiously low-brow jokes/gags. They're cheap laughs, and I think the Muppets are better than that, but at least these FSMs are isolated incidents and don't overwhelm the whole movie. In other words, they're mostly harmless. [Spoiler](There was one such moment that redeemed itself by doubling as a Shawshank Redemption homage. If there's one thing I like more than The Shawshank Redemption, it's Shawshank Redemption parodies, and nobody does parody like the Muppets.) And then also, the current sociopolitical climate in Russia, and related current events, made the gulag scenes a little hard to watch. [ETA]It's a testament to how good this movie is that the parts I didn't like tend not to be very memorable for me. For example, until I read Ryan Roe's review as mentioned above, I had forgotten that Piggy's big musical number involves a fantasy sequence in which she imagines what married life with Kermit would be like, and it includes a green baby pig and a pink baby frog. That comes dangerously close to acknowledging the Muppets as sexual beings and, as I have stated in the past, I am NOT comfortable with that. Never have been, and never will be.
There was some concern in the Muppet fan community that this movie would somehow be a retread of The Great Muppet Caper. Those fears were unfounded; whatever similarities there are between the two are very superficial. With that said, however, I do feel that Muppets Most Wanted represents what The Great Muppet Caper could have been if it had had a coherent plot and an effectual villain, and if Jim Henson hadn't been preoccupied with making The Dark Crystal at the same time. In other words--and this is basically Muppet heresy, so I expect to be set upon by an angry mob any moment now--I liked Muppets Most Wanted more than The Great Muppet Caper. A LOT more.
Of course, I would be remiss not to say hats off to the Muppet performers, bless their multitalented hearts. But a special mention to Eric Jacobson and Steve Whitmire. I think Eric Jacobson tends to be overlooked and underestimated, even more so than the other Muppet performers, but I particularly thought that the big Miss Piggy musical number in this movie was exceptionally good, a beautiful performance without qualification (i.e. not just a beautiful performance for a man singing in falsetto). And Steve Whitmire...man, I'm just speechless. In the last two movies they've taken Kermit to new dramatic depths and had him explore new emotional territory, and Steve Whitmire has committed to it 100%. I'm in awe of him. Also a special mention to Matt Vogel as Constantine, who managed the difficult task of being very funny and genuinely menacing at the same time.
So I hope everybody goes to see it. Or at the very least, I hope everybody buys a ticket for it whether they see it or not, so that the studio will continue to consider them a "viable franchise."
In particular I really loved that opening number, which mostly dispelled whatever lingering doubts I still had, with its bouncy satire and sly biting-the-hand humor (albeit good natured, of course). But my favorite part of the opening number was a line in which Bunsen Honeydew points out that this is actually the seventh sequel to the original movie, which is what I've been saying all along. At that moment, I decided that I want to marry Bret McKenzie.
Speaking of whom, when he wrote the songs, he was under the impression that the movie was going to be called The Muppets...Again, so he worked that into the lyrics of some of the songs. Then the studio changed the title to Muppets Most Wanted, so those references no longer made sense. If I'd known that at the time, I wouldn't have been quite as eager for them to change the title. However, I still think Muppets Most Wanted is a better title so, somewhat to my chagrin, I have to side with the studio on this one.
Everything on this movie was just really, really great: the music, the writing, the puppetry, the people. The human beings were all really good and didn't overstay their welcome, which is a danger for Muppet movies. Ty Burrell was brilliant, as I knew he would be. Tina Fey was hilarious, as always. Ricky Gervais didn't really have much to do but act sleazy, but he was very good at it. [Spoiler](He did get an action sequence at the film's climax where he pulls off a jewel heist with a bunch of 35-year-old babies.)
That's not to say that I loved everything about the movie. There were a few moments which I've just now decided that I'm going to call "fart shoes moments" from now on; i.e. gratuitiously low-brow jokes/gags. They're cheap laughs, and I think the Muppets are better than that, but at least these FSMs are isolated incidents and don't overwhelm the whole movie. In other words, they're mostly harmless. [Spoiler](There was one such moment that redeemed itself by doubling as a Shawshank Redemption homage. If there's one thing I like more than The Shawshank Redemption, it's Shawshank Redemption parodies, and nobody does parody like the Muppets.) And then also, the current sociopolitical climate in Russia, and related current events, made the gulag scenes a little hard to watch. [ETA]It's a testament to how good this movie is that the parts I didn't like tend not to be very memorable for me. For example, until I read Ryan Roe's review as mentioned above, I had forgotten that Piggy's big musical number involves a fantasy sequence in which she imagines what married life with Kermit would be like, and it includes a green baby pig and a pink baby frog. That comes dangerously close to acknowledging the Muppets as sexual beings and, as I have stated in the past, I am NOT comfortable with that. Never have been, and never will be.
There was some concern in the Muppet fan community that this movie would somehow be a retread of The Great Muppet Caper. Those fears were unfounded; whatever similarities there are between the two are very superficial. With that said, however, I do feel that Muppets Most Wanted represents what The Great Muppet Caper could have been if it had had a coherent plot and an effectual villain, and if Jim Henson hadn't been preoccupied with making The Dark Crystal at the same time. In other words--and this is basically Muppet heresy, so I expect to be set upon by an angry mob any moment now--I liked Muppets Most Wanted more than The Great Muppet Caper. A LOT more.
Of course, I would be remiss not to say hats off to the Muppet performers, bless their multitalented hearts. But a special mention to Eric Jacobson and Steve Whitmire. I think Eric Jacobson tends to be overlooked and underestimated, even more so than the other Muppet performers, but I particularly thought that the big Miss Piggy musical number in this movie was exceptionally good, a beautiful performance without qualification (i.e. not just a beautiful performance for a man singing in falsetto). And Steve Whitmire...man, I'm just speechless. In the last two movies they've taken Kermit to new dramatic depths and had him explore new emotional territory, and Steve Whitmire has committed to it 100%. I'm in awe of him. Also a special mention to Matt Vogel as Constantine, who managed the difficult task of being very funny and genuinely menacing at the same time.
So I hope everybody goes to see it. Or at the very least, I hope everybody buys a ticket for it whether they see it or not, so that the studio will continue to consider them a "viable franchise."