Cinema: Muppets Most Wanted

Summary:
After their successful revival, Kermit the Frog and the gang embark on a world-wide tour for their show. Unbeknownst to them, they become entangled in an elaborate heist set up by the world's greatest criminal, Constantine, who happens to be a dead ringer for Kermit...
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I think nearly everybody watched The Muppets at one point in their lives. Whether it is the popular Sesame Street, the 70's-80's hit The Muppet Show, any of their (as of now) eight movies, or even in commercials, The Muppets have always been popular. What made them so appealing to begin with was a combination of well-written humor, characterization, and amazing puppetry work. I believe Jim Henson, original creator of the Muppets, intended for his creations to not just be silly puppets for children, but actual, real life characters that can interact believably to make them seem realistic. This is not CGI here; The Muppets have always prided themselves for using techniques with puppetry that have since then been deemed as revolutionary. Even with the advent of CGI, The Muppets have always stuck to their roots, and have stood the test of time that made them popular cultural icons.

My experience with them, discounting the now-separate-Sesame Street, was through the movies. I've watched all of them except for the second one. Almost all of them are a great combination of well written stories, memorable characters, nice song numbers, celebrity cameos, and freaking hilarious humor that relies on visual gags, in-jokes, and Breaking the Fourth Wall. But my personal fondness for The Muppets only came about with the last movie The Muppets in 2011. Using heartstrings-tugging nostalgia and really creative marketing, The Muppets became popular again after nearly a decade. As such, a sequel was inevitable. For my reviews, when it comes to another installment in a film franchise, I shall give my brief thoughts on each of them:

The Muppet Movie: Entertaining. The visuals of Muppets on bicycles is still amazing 35 years later. Among my top five.

The Great Muppet Caper: Did not see, though I hear people say this is the best one.

Muppets Take Manhattan: My personal favorite. A nice story with some nice songs and an exciting final number.

Muppet Christmas Carol: A nice-retelling of the classic story, except with Muppets filling the roles. Michael Caine did well as Ebeneezer Scrooge.

Muppet Treasure Island: Was alright. Never really read the original story though. Tim Curry was hilarious as usual.

Muppets from Space: It was OK, but I can understand why this is the one that temporarily killed the Muppet movie franchise.

The Muppets: Probably the most emotional Muppet movie by far. Does well to move the Muppets into the modern era and bring them back into popularity. Among my top five.

I really enjoyed Muppets Most Wanted. I haven't laughed this hard with and at a movie in a while. Everything you want in The Muppets is there and then some. Well, except for maybe one thing, but more on that later. For the purposes of this explaining why this movie managed to do so well for me, I'll be doing a few comparisons with the previous movie.

First, the story. As I said, the 2011 movie did its job in bringing The Muppets back into the public consciousness. It is almost fitting then that this movie decided to just go straight for utter humor, randomness, and jokes. Sure, there is an actual story that goes from point A to point B, but it is overshadowed by the sheer amount of jokes and funny moments in the movie. That is probably my only issue with the movie. The story, while entertaining, does sort of distract from the bombardment of Muppet jokes and makes you impatient for them to come back. By the climax, both plots come together and work well, but until then it's sort of distract.

Another point to bring up about this movie is its lack of "heartwarming moments". I think part of the success of the 2011 movie is attributed to the nostalgia and the Muppets being gone and forgotten by the world. That movie had tons of emotional moments that really hits you right there. In this movie, not so much. There are a few moments here and there, but the movie is pretty much 90% comedy. I think some may find that disappointing since The Muppets are known for their wide range of emotional moments, but I argue that this movie is meant to take The Muppets in another direction. Now that The Muppets are back, they could explore other possibilities with them. And for this movie, they really hit a home run.

Next, the characters. As usual, the Muppets are great. Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo and the other Muppet crew all have their moments and stay true to their classic characterizations. Side Muppets like Statler & Waldorf, Sam the Eagle, and Scooter shine through and contribute to the humor. And Walter, the newest Muppet that was introduced in the last movie, has his fair share too. The Muppet villain of the movie, Constantine, is a good and funny villain. As said, he is a dead ringer for Kermit and part of his shtick is being a serious threat while contending with the wacky hijinks of The Muppets after he and Kermit switch places.

At the same time, I praise the writing for deciding to switch up the Muppets formula a bit. A common plot thread in these movies is for Kermit and Miss Piggy to have a lovers spat, sometimes to the point of a lack of sympathy for Miss Piggy's character. Not so in this movie. At a critical point, Miss Piggy goes through a personal crisis where she reflects on herself. I really liked that, and it made for my favorite song and my favorite and funniest moment in the whole movie.

The three main human characters also did a good job. Ricky Gervais (The Office) is a good foil to Constantine as his "number two", and Ty Burrell (Modern Family, Mr Peabody & Sherman) is very funny as a stereotypical European cop with Sam the Eagle. Tina Fey (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock) however stole the show among the human cast as a hilarious and hammy Russian GULAG officer. In keeping with Muppet movie tradition, there are tons of celebrity cameos that are for fun or add to the film for brief moments. I won't give away who exactly cameos so you can see and be entertained for yourself, but all of them were really funny.

Thirdly, the musical numbers. All but I think except one of the Muppet movies have musical numbers, and most of the time they do a good job in advancing the story or just providing more humorous moments. This movie is no exception. The songwriter and composer from the previous movie returned here, and they maintain that same brand of Muppet humor and heartwarming feelings. For musicals, I shall give my best and worst songs in the movie.

Best: Something so Right/I'll Get You What You Want (Cockatoo in Malibu)

Worst: Working in the Coal Mine
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Final Thoughts

If you have kids, you have watched any material of The Muppets, or are just looking for a nice comedic romp during the later part of this month and the next, this is the movie to see. Aside from a slight story hiccup, this was an excellent Muppet movie and a good movie in general. If you're tired of that sort of humor that relies on dirty jokes, over-excessive  pop culture references, or plain stupidity, this is a must-see. I'd probably place it as my third best Muppet movie, below the third and seventh ones. It's just a fun movie all around. As Kermit the Frog would say, "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

Trailer Thoughts
Rio 2-I haven't watched the first Rio, so I'm not sure if I'd want to see this. At least in the cinema. But it does look visually appealing with a few good jokes.


Captain America: The Winter Solder-I have nothing more to say about how much I'm eagerly looking forward to this except "Just one more week, just one more week, just one more week..."

Saga: Curse of the Shadow-Looks like your typical, mediocre fantasy movie with swords and sorcery. A definite pass.

Planes: Fire & Rescue-I'm utterly dumbfounded that the first Planes movie did well enough to warrant a sequel. The sad thing is, Planes probably only earned it because they made a mint with toy merchandise. And I can imagine the same will be done here. Too bad the story of the first Planes, and likely this one, is so dull, uninspired, and oozes of mediocrity. It goes without saying I'll be passing, but at least the visuals look nice.

Heaven is for Real-Same thoughts as the last time I saw the trailer. Looks interesting, but not worth it for me in the cinema. Maybe I'll see it someday, but I'm in no hurry.

Noah-...why? Just...why? I'm not exaggerating when I saw the trailer and said "Oh no...". Unlike the works that have adapted the Passion of Jesus, the story of Noah and the Flood doesn't lend much to story. Emma Watson is in the movie so I suppose that's a plus, but aside from that...just...why? I do give it credit though for taking an angle not shown in the bible: That humanity will not accept its fate so readily.

Maleficent-The trailer they showed here is the second, which hooked me in, particularly with its haunting rendition of "Once Upon a Dream". I'll likely be watching this.

One last thought. Normally I'm perfectly fine with watching a movie in an uncrowded cinema, but there are times where I wish there were tons of other people. Comedies and action movies are the best examples for this. Unfortunately, counting me and my friend, the total amount of people to watch Muppets Most Wanted today on Friday was six. My friend and I were the only ones laughing. Sure, there was a lot of people watching the cinema, but most of them went to watch Divergent. Looking up, it seems that Divergent is getting a rather mixed/negative reception. Whereas Muppets Most Wanted got good reception.

Because Divergent is yet another story adapted from a teens book, and my belief that the Muppets aren't as popular in the Philippines as they are elsewhere, I think we all know which movie will get more attention during this weekend.

NEXT TIME: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER