I’m a Muppets fan. I grew up watching the show, and The Great Muppet Caper is still one of my all-time favorite movies.
However, the recent reboot of Muppet movies has not tickled
my Muppet funny bone. I liked The Muppets
just fine. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible. And that’s pretty much
how I felt about Muppets Most Wanted.
The one thing that this movie did better was actually
casting people who can passably sing and do basic dance moves, unlike Jason
Segal. (Plus Jason Segal always kind of creeps me out a little bit for some
reason.)
You might think Ricky Gervais would be a terrible lead, but
to my relief he did not play Ricky Gervais. (I have no beef with Gervais, but
it’s often my fear that well-known comics just end up playing exactly the same
character whenever they are cast. I’m looking at you, Will Ferrell.) Plus he
started his career in a band, so his voice was decent to good in the one song
he sang.
With that introduction, here are four reasons to see the
movie and three to not see it. Or at least three reasons to manage your
expectations.
To See…
1. Costumes: Ty Burrell’s suit is
absolutely spot on (bless you, Brooks Brothers) and Tina Fey’s Russian uniforms
are spectacular. Even Miss Piggy was rocking it with her British houndstooth
tweeds and her sequined wedding dress.
2. Music: Bret McKenzie once again wrote a
handful of original songs for Muppets
Most Wanted that are infectious and fun. Among them, an excellent doo-wop
number and a very Flight of the Conchords number called “I’ll Get You What You
Want.” Plus, the Muppets do The Muppet
Show opening in Spanish at one point in the movie, including flamenco
guitar.
3. The Gulag: All the scenes and actors
associated with the Gulag are delightful. Tiny Fey is the perfect iron fist.
Additionally, Ray Liota, Danny Trejo and Jemain Clement each bring their own
brand of delight to their roles as lead prisoners.
4. Cameos: There
were some seriously awesome and unexpected cameos from James McAvoy to Hugh
Bonneville (with an Irish dialect!) to Saoirse Ronan to Tony Bennett. However,
see blow for the other side of this coin.
Or not to see…
1. Cameos: Some
of the cameos were great — the stars had lines and their appearances
lasted more than 20 seconds. Some of the cameos were ok, they had lines, but it
lasted about 20 seconds. Some of the cameos were wasted. I mean, who gets Tom
Hiddleston to do a cameo then decides to only have him on screen for literally
15 seconds with no lines? At least he got to do a funny bit. But poor Russell
Tovey got the shortest end of all the sticks. He had a line, but his face was
in view for about 3 seconds and he got no comedy bit.
2. Plot: I know, of course the plot is going to
be formulaic, it’s a Muppet movie. They want to perform, they somehow divide as
a group and may not perform, they have to remember to stick together as a
family and work hard, and then they get to perform.
However, it always surprises me that there’s a chunk
somewhere in the middle of these reboots that seems to drag on forever. I mean,
they’re Muppets, tell more jokes or do more gags or something.
3. Pacing: Speaking
of drag, I’m not sure how it’s possible that the movie at times feels like it
jumps around too much while it drags in places. The exposition is a whirlwind
and they travel from Hollywood to Berlin, Madrid, Dublin, London and Siberia,
but still there is some drag.
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