Film Overrated - A human movie with Muppets
To start. this didn't feel like a Muppets movie, it felt like the Muppets were second banana to a couple of humans. Gary and Mary seem more like they would have been minor characters in any other Muppets movie, and they don't quite work well as main characters in this one. What worked for Carol and Island does not work for everything, especially if the execution isn't as well-done. Then there's the disturbing implication of a human giving birth to a Muppet, but moving on.
The story borrows certain aspects from IAVMMCM. Does it borrow to the point where this makes it bad, no. There also seems to be too many plots going on at once. On the one hand, you have Mary and Gary's love story which became annoying, on other you have Gary who can't let his little brother Walter go, you have Walter who's trying to prove himself, you have Kermit and Piggy's relationship which becomes an actual focus, and you have trying to save the Muppets theatre. They don't all converge well. The villain is seriously under-developed and The Moopets are doubly so. This is the best they could do with Gary Cooper? For shame. Plus, why was he an oil tycoon? It just doesn't seem to add any substance. It seems like making him some kind of modern-day land baron would have made for a better villain.
Sure, there are some nice callbacks and references, but those alone do not make for a good movie. Plus, how did the Muppets lose the theatre? It's never explained. It's a gaping plot hole and the very selective continuity doesn't help. Also, the 4th wall breaking felt out of place, and that Product Placement felt forced.
One of the big reasons that it feels like a human movie as opposed to a Muppet movie is that a lot of noteworthy Muppets don't get to do much. For example, Sam Eagle could have been reverted back to his Moral Guardian characterization but instead all he does is appear on a very short parody of Fox News and sing.
The songs felt really underwhelming, which is odd considering this is Disney. The music wasn't particularly impressive either. It boggles my mind that they didn't go with Alan Menken or Hans Zimmer, or Alan Silvestri, or a number of other names.
To sum it up, this really didn't have that of Muppets magic. The films of Frank Oz and Brian Henson were the best when it came to capturing that magic. I'm putting this down as the worst Muppets movie by far.
Film One of Us: the movie
In short: Like the old Muppets tv show? You'll like this movie.
This film covers a lot of old ground, both in callbacks and establishing characters you should already know. Expect slapstick, madcap antics, and some new characters guaranteed never to be seen again. Don't get me wrong, it's slickly produced and gets a few out loud laughs. Just don't expect high concept filmmaking here. The Muppets formula of musical numbers and celebrity cameos gets cranked out here with the same regularity as a James Bond sequel. Longtime fan? Got time and money to burn? Get to the theater! Otherwise, nothing here you can't enjoy just as much on DVD in a few months.
-D.B.
Film A good B+ movie
I really LIKED the movie, not loved, liked. I expected myself to laugh alot more at this. All the fourth-wall and sight gags were very clever but if you bring a young kid with you they will be slightly bored with this, its more of an older kids and up film. The humans were slightly underdeveloped (Gary and Mary were fortunate enough to avoid this but Tex Richman suffers from this. The songs were both catchy and well made and the cameos were funny too (especially Jack Black's torture at the hands of the muppets who were among the few who saw Gulliver's Travels). I also feel like the world is ignoring Muppets Tonight due to how they basically buried references to the show (Pepe's brief cameo, Bobo the Bear not doing anything, no Clifford) and to be true they probably forgot all about the Jim Henson hour too. I don't hate the original Muppet show but I grew up with the MT show.
Overall a terrific film, but not as good as I though it'd be
Film An Enjoyable Film
As the other review states, if you're a fan of the Muppets, go see this movie. Now. It will give you warm nostalgic feelings. There are tons of Call Backs and Shout-Outs, and hilarious jokes, for adults and kids alike. The musical numbers, original and old, are good, and it's just a feel-good movie.
That said, the plot is a little weak, but if you're a Muppets fan, or a kid, you can probably overlook the few weak spots and just enjoy the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational movie of the year!
Film A hilarious worthy tribute that struggles with its dramatis personae.
I'd heard a lot of praise for this film, and having loved The Muppet Movie for several years, I decided to give this a shot.
In many respects, this is a perfect sequel to the older film. That movie is treated as canonical backstory for this one, and tonally, it's shockingly similar. The comedy is just as absurd and disregarding of a fourth wall as it was before, the film is still musical, and celebrity cameos fill the movie in the same way. My favorite is a case where the actor actually kinda reprises the character that shot them to stardom, being a cameo and a movie reference at the same time. The Muppets are all accounted for and there's clearly a love for the original franchise and the stories told in it.
But then there's how we enter the plot, which never feels like it was the right decision. Since the Muppets are all broken up and have to be reunited, the film needs to have new characters tracking them down, but they then have to remain in the film and find something to do. It doesn't help that they chose possibly the weirdest characters to enter the story with—a pair of brothers, one human, one Muppet, and the human one's girlfriend. The Muppet brother, Walter, grew up obsessed with the show because they made him feel seen, and he helps start the quest to reunite the group. Gary, his brother struggles with being mature and attentive to his girlfriend Mary. There's even what feels like disability subtext as we see Walter fail to grow taller alongside his brother and remain more childlike and struggling a bit with his size and that could be interesting...but these characters aren't what we came here for and they continue to feel awkward as the film has to come back to them and fit them in somehow. Surely there was a better way to write this film so the Muppet cast were the entry while still being separate. I know there's the fun factor of not seeing them until their big debut scenes as we're placed with the Muppet Muppet-fan meeting them, but a stronger story could have had them introduced apart and then brought together with no outside forces as lead characters.
I don't know. I still enjoyed myself immensely watching this movie and it did give me The Muppets. It's a great time, but not the most sensibly scripted.