It has been over 20 years since the Muppets have graced the silver screen. To put this into perspective, I was not even born yet when the last big Muppet movie came out.
As I was headed to the theater with my older sister, who is also a big Muppet fan, I had high expectations for this film. I wondered if it would be as good as the older ones I watched on VHS over and over as a child. The answer is yes.
The movie starts with two brothers, Gary (Jason Segel), who is a human, and his brother Walter (voice by Peter Linz) a puppet, finding out their differences growing up but finding a common love in watching “The Muppet Show.” Gary and Walter open the movie with showing their small-town life in “Life’s Happy Song.” Gary and his love Mary (Amy Adams) decide to go to Los Angeles to celebrate their anniversary. But, the romance is killed when Gary invites Walter to come along and go see the Muppet studio with them.
While touring the old Muppet Studio, which looks like something out of a Halloween movie, the studio is worn down with dead trees and buildings that look like they are falling apart.
Walter ventures off into Kermit’s office and overhears a conversation from an evil entrepreneur (Chris Cooper) who plans to destroy the Muppet studio to drill for oil. The only way to stop them is for the old Muppet gang to get back together to raise enough money to buy back the studio. They do it by attempting to put on a telethon.
All of our old favorite Muppets are back, from Fozzie Bear to the grumpy old men who insult everything. One of my favorite Muppets is Pepe, the king prawn making his cameo with Miss Piggy.
An interesting and comedic part of this movie was watching the gang get back together. Each Muppet ventured off into a solo career and you get to see where they have been all this time. The one that had me laughing most was Animal in a recovery center for his drumming problem, an issue he deals with throughout the movie.
The movie was great in how it is very simplistic, which was the charm in every Muppet movie, no major plot twists or the story going off in different directions. Everything ties together with a simple storyline.
Jason Segel did a wonderful job in helping to create this movie. I was impressed that he did not try to make it something different and he pays homage to some of the things we’ve associated with the Muppets like the incredible Gonzo, or the opening title to the Muppet show. Fozzie’s usual corny jokes had me laughing at how bad they were.
The musical numbers and dance numbers were both entertaining and heart-warming. Kermit’s rendition of “The Rainbow Connection,” which he has done before, plucked at my heart strings and was a highlight of the movie. On the other end of the spectrum, the chickens doing their new rendition of Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You” had me laughing.
Not only did we get to see all our favorite Muppets, there were a lot of celebrity cameos, from Mickey Rooney to Neil Patrick Harris and many more. There are very few instances in movies where so many celebrities make small appearances, I have the feeling they must have decided to be a part of this movie purely out of the love they had for the legendary group.
The movie is a great family movie. It’s charming, corny, musical and entertaining. It is exactly what you would expect from a Muppet movie and a great way to introduce a whole new generation to something that has become an American institution. I just hope it doesn’t take 20 more years to get another great Muppet movie.
