Film Review: THE MUPPETS (2011)

Director: James Bobin
Writers: Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller, based on characters created by Jim Henson
Running time: 103 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Genre: Comedy/Family/Musical
UK Release date: 10^th February 2012

Watched on Sky+ Wednesday 26^th December 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I can’t say I was ever the greatest fan of the Muppets, however, I will admit to admiring their artistry and I did like their particular brand of comedy. Baring this in mind I decided to take a look at ‘The Muppets’. I must say I was pleasantly surprised! Despite a couple of schmaltzy musical numbers I quite enjoyed this one! Here’s a very brief summary before I tell you why.

Walter, (voiced by Peter Linz) and Gary (Jason Segel) grew up together and Walter is a huge fan of The Muppets. When Gary decides to take his girlfriend, Mary (Amy Adams) to Los Angeles to celebrate their tenth anniversary together; he asks Walter to come along too so he can see visit the Muppet studios. Unfortunately the studios are a mess and whilst there Walter overhears an evil developer, Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), plotting to knock it down. Walter implores Gary and Mary to help him find Kermit and the rest of the Muppets so they can save the studio. All they need is ten million dollars by midnight on Friday! But can Kermit get the old gang back together, get the backing of a studio and find a celebrity guest in time!?... Sorry, my lips are sealed.

Very well made with some very funny comic moments throughout. If I’m honest, I have to admit I found it did lose a little momentum in the middle third. Some nice musical numbers with the stand-out being ‘Man or Muppet’, I’m sure those who have seen it will agree. All the performances were very good and the puppeteering top notch, as we’ve come to expect from the guys behind the Muppets. I must also give credit to the voice talents of; Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, David Rudman & Matt Vogel who provided the voices of all the major Muppet characters. There were also quite a few cameos featured (I’ll leave you to figure those out for yourselves). Over all I found this quite enjoyable, if a little schmaltzy here and there, but still well worth a look.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 7.3/10

IMDb Score: 7.3/10 (based on 46,410 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1204342/

MetaScore: 75/100: (Based on 37 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 96/100 (based on 202 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 82/100 ‘Liked it’ (based on 81,860 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_muppets/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Fozzie Bear: Wow, that was such an expensive looking explosion! I can't believe we had that in the budget.

Veronica: I'm gonna shoot straight: you guys aren't famous anymore.
Fozzie Bear: Yeesh. I wish she'd shot a little more curvy.

[repeated line]
Tex Richman: Maniacal laugh... maniacal laugh...

Animal: No drums! No drums! Jack Black said no drums!

Kermit the Frog: What? You kidnap Jack Black? That's illegal!
Fozzie Bear: What's more illegal, Kermit: briefly inconveniencing Jack Black, or destroying the Muppets?
Kermit the Frog: Kidnapping Jack Black, Fozzie!

[singing]
Walter: Am I a Muppet, or am I a man? If I'm a man, that makes me a Muppet of a man.

Gary: So you guys aren't getting back together?
Kermit the Frog: [sadly] No.
Mary: This is going to be a really short movie.

Statler: If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were reciting some sort of important plot point.
Waldorf: I hope so. Otherwise I would've bored half the audience half to death.
Statler: You mean half the audience is still alive?

Uncle Deadly: How charming, a finale.

LINKS:
Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/MuppetsStudio
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/muppets
Official Site: http://www.disney.co.uk/muppets/
Trailer: