Muppets Most Wanted

Everyone loves the Muppets.

When it comes to the word "institution", The Muppets are about as much of an American institution as GM, Apple, or Microsoft.

They have been around long before I was born and they will be around long after I'm gone. Sure they have their peaks and troughs of popularity but I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who hates the Muppets.

Everyone has their favorite (mine is Beaker, the scientist that can only make high pitched squeals) and as a group this gang is often comedic gold. This was most recently displayed in the hilarious come-back of sorts, The Muppets. It won the Rath Award for funniest movie of 2011 and interestingly enough it was the second movie that I reviewed on this site. Check out that early review HERE!

As is the case with most sequels, and as the cast of Muppets Most Wanted sings at the beginning, they are often not quite as good as the original. I'm sad to say that this is the case for Muppets Most Wanted, although it has a decent amount to offer its audience, particularly if you are a fan of the green frog, his bossy pig, a comedian bear, and everyone/thing in between.


The Muppets crew rolls deep

It took me a while to put my finger on what exactly about this film makes it less special than the original. And after a few hours I think I finally have it: there is far less of a focus on the Muppets themselves. The original movie was all about the Muppets...it practically served as a reintroduction of characters and Walter's story line of becoming a Muppet captured the essence and the spirit of why the Muppets have been around all these years. Muppets Most Wanted still has signs of that too but the focus is mainly on the story about a big heist of royal jewels. I found there to be fewer character moments with particular Muppets because the movie chose instead to focus on the actual plot. Sounds strange I know, but when compared to the original, a lot less creatures get their time in the spotlight because of the focus on Kermit and Constantine (the evil frog that impersonates Kermit). Given the plot isn't that special in and of itself, this issue becomes more obvious as you watch it and by the end this adventure seems rather forgettable, despite that it was still enjoyable.

One of the best scenes of the movie:
"The Big House"

They are reading my review intensely

But as I explained earlier: it's really hard to hate on the Muppets. For every misstep the movie makes (length, editing, etc.) it's still the funniest puppet crew in history up there on screen. Other than the con about certain Muppets not getting screen time, everyone of them turns in a strong performance. Especially whoever voiced Constantine. When he tries to impersonate Kermit, the combination of a Russian accent along with Kermit's signature gullible voice is way funnier than it should be at times. I really enjoyed all the cameos and most of the live actors as well. Ricky Gervais wasn't that funny compared to what I think he could have been but Modern Family star, Ty Burrell did fantastic. I probably enjoyed Tina Fey the most though and thought her scenes were some of the best/funniest, including her musical number, "The Big House".

I thought this poster was too
good to pass up

From a comedic perspective, Muppets Most Wanted also sits in the shadow of its predecessor, but not by much. The run time of nearly two hours hurts it and by the end, stuff that I would have found funny in the first 30 minutes just wasn't as funny anymore. But for the period of time that it was funny, it was pretty darn good. The Muppets have always been somewhat meta and that's no different here with them singing about making a sequel and making several jokes about their relevance and popular culture. Several of the cameos were the more memorable laughs but there are definitely more than one or two funny, zany, wacky moments that we are so used to from this crew.

Muppets Most Wanted is another movie that you can add to the list of "sequels that weren't as good as the original" but its hard to fault it when they call themselves out within the first 10 minutes of song and dance. And by no means is it disappointing, it's right where I expected it would be. The first movie struck gold by introducing a new generation to these lovable characters and the second one is more of the norm that we are used to from all their performances over the years. The former may have made for a better film and it did many things better but on its own, Muppets Most Wanted is still fun, funny, and probably most importantly, it's more Muppets.

You may not remember your time with it once you leave the theater but I'd be willing to bet that during it you have a smile for nearly the whole duration.

CONS:

• Too long. It's 112 minutes but felt like 140. This becomes an even worse issue when you have several scenes that weren't all that funny (or progressive to the plot) that could have been cut
• Significantly less Muppets spirit and Muppets passion behind this film. Granted the first film was almost entirely about saving the Muppets and what they stand for, but that shouldn't matter. I would have liked to seen more Muppets featured, at least for a couple minutes, in hilarious ways like they were in the first film
• The plot is fun but probably the most forgettable part of the film
• Ricky Gervais doesn't do much

PROS:

• Great performances all around from Muppets and live actors alike. Tina Fey was the standout for me
• The majority of the jokes are hilarious and the often-meta tone of the film leads to some extra laughs
• Great cameos
• Some fantastic musical numbers. My favorite was "The Big House"
• Despite the length it was still a fun time
• It's more Muppets. It's hard to ever have that in any column other than the "PROS"

Rath's Review Score: 7/10