Little over two years, The Muppets burst onto the big screen, bursting with charm and humour, and really reminding us grown ups why we missed Kermit, Gonzo, Miss Piggy and the gang, and introducing a new generation to their all singing, all dancing antics. Fast forward to now, and The Muppets are back with Muppets Most Wanted, a caper more in keeping with The Muppet movies of old. Creatively, the gang is back with James Bobin again in the directors chair, working with co-writer Nicholas Stoller, and Bret McKenzie returns as music supervisor. But the one omission from that original team, and proof of where most of the magic and heart of the original came from, is co-writer and star Jason Segel. His decision not to come back hurts Muppets Most Wanted, and while it is not a bad movie, it doesn't really hold a candle to the original.
Kicking off with the unbelieveably catchy song We're Doing a Sequel (which contains the sadly prophetic line "The sequel's never quite as good"), Muppets Most Wanted sees the gang embark on a world tour, that proves to a be a cover for a series of ambitious art heists mastered minded by renowned thief Constatine, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Kermit, and their new tour manager, Dominic (Ricky Gervais). The story moves along at an impressive pace, setting up all the beats within minutes, and splitting the action between various European capitals, and a Russian Gulag, where Kermit finds himself wrongfully imprisoned. These two parallel plots are handled well, and while it may seem rushed at first, it is only so it can get the set up out of the way, and do what The Muppets do best: let loose with the gags. For the most part, they hit their mark every time (though I could have seen more of Constatine's tendency to blow up everything once he is finished with it. That made me laugh more than it should have). When they do fail, it is mostly due to them involving a celebrity cameo. These have been part of The Muppets from day one, and in the last movie they were handled perfectly, with little fanfare and they felt organic. Here, it is the exact opposite, and most of the time they have no real bearing on the overall movie, other than to say "Hey, look!! We got Saorise Ronan!", or "Here's Tom Hiddleston!!!" (actually his bit is pretty funny). A handful of them do work, but the rest just feel crowbarred in.
Bret McKenzie is again at the top of his game when it comes to music, delivering a whole host of toe tapping songs. The aforementioned opening number and the fun Interrogation Song are probably the stand outs, but there isn't really a dud here, and they keep the movie ticking along nicely. More so than the original, The Muppets are the focus here, with the human stars, consisting of Gervais, Tina Fey, and Ty Burrell, being more sideline players. They don't really come close to Jason Segel, Amy Adams, and Chris Cooper, but they do hold their own against their charismatic felt co-stars. Gervis gives a fun rendition of his usual schtick, playing off against Constatine for the most part, which he does very well, showing real exasperation at being second fiddle. Fey also gives it her all, even though her story falls flat in places, but the scene stealer is Burrell, who is having an absolute blast a Interpol agent Jean Pierre-Napoleon. Putting on a thick French accent, he relishes every line, and does deliver some of the biggest laughs.
It is great to have The Muppets back again, and I can't wait till they return, but following something as perfect as The Muppets was always going to be hard. The kiddies will no doubt lap this up, and adults will get a kick out of it, but this outing doesn't live up to the first.
Kicking off with the unbelieveably catchy song We're Doing a Sequel (which contains the sadly prophetic line "The sequel's never quite as good"), Muppets Most Wanted sees the gang embark on a world tour, that proves to a be a cover for a series of ambitious art heists mastered minded by renowned thief Constatine, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Kermit, and their new tour manager, Dominic (Ricky Gervais). The story moves along at an impressive pace, setting up all the beats within minutes, and splitting the action between various European capitals, and a Russian Gulag, where Kermit finds himself wrongfully imprisoned. These two parallel plots are handled well, and while it may seem rushed at first, it is only so it can get the set up out of the way, and do what The Muppets do best: let loose with the gags. For the most part, they hit their mark every time (though I could have seen more of Constatine's tendency to blow up everything once he is finished with it. That made me laugh more than it should have). When they do fail, it is mostly due to them involving a celebrity cameo. These have been part of The Muppets from day one, and in the last movie they were handled perfectly, with little fanfare and they felt organic. Here, it is the exact opposite, and most of the time they have no real bearing on the overall movie, other than to say "Hey, look!! We got Saorise Ronan!", or "Here's Tom Hiddleston!!!" (actually his bit is pretty funny). A handful of them do work, but the rest just feel crowbarred in.
Bret McKenzie is again at the top of his game when it comes to music, delivering a whole host of toe tapping songs. The aforementioned opening number and the fun Interrogation Song are probably the stand outs, but there isn't really a dud here, and they keep the movie ticking along nicely. More so than the original, The Muppets are the focus here, with the human stars, consisting of Gervais, Tina Fey, and Ty Burrell, being more sideline players. They don't really come close to Jason Segel, Amy Adams, and Chris Cooper, but they do hold their own against their charismatic felt co-stars. Gervis gives a fun rendition of his usual schtick, playing off against Constatine for the most part, which he does very well, showing real exasperation at being second fiddle. Fey also gives it her all, even though her story falls flat in places, but the scene stealer is Burrell, who is having an absolute blast a Interpol agent Jean Pierre-Napoleon. Putting on a thick French accent, he relishes every line, and does deliver some of the biggest laughs.
It is great to have The Muppets back again, and I can't wait till they return, but following something as perfect as The Muppets was always going to be hard. The kiddies will no doubt lap this up, and adults will get a kick out of it, but this outing doesn't live up to the first.
