The Muppets (2011)

Everybody loves the Muppets. They’ve been a part of nearly everyone’s childhood since the seventies when the original Muppet Show aired. Since then, they’ve maintained a solid place within our pop culture be it through film or television specials. They even survived the tragic death of their creator Jim Henson. Sadly, the Muppets have been teetering on the edge of pop culture relevance for some time now. Their last movie to be released in theaters was in 1999. Luckily they still have their devoted fan base, and even luckier that Jason Segel counts himself among them. As star and producer, he’s largely responsible for getting this movie made. 

The Muppets opens with the lives of two brothers, Gary (Jason Segel) and Walter (Peter Linz), living in an idealized American small town called Smalltown. They grew up as devoted fans of the Muppets, particularly Walter. They, along with Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams), travel to Hollywood to visit the old Muppet Theater where Walter inadvertently learns of the evil oil baron Tex Richman’s (Chris Cooper) plan to buy the property and level it so he can get at the precious oil beneath (maniacal laugh). The plot then becomes Walter helping Kermit to round up the whole Muppet gang so they can do one last show as a telethon to save the theater.

The Muppets find Rowlf

This has everything you could hope for in a Muppet movie whether your fans of the original show, the movies, or simply a newcomer interested in seeing puppets. It’s obvious right away how much the filmmakers must love these characters. The movie is packed with references to the old show and the last half hour is literally a recreation of it. All the favorite characters appear to do their routines: Fozzie Bear with his terrible jokes, Gonzo the Great (Dave Goelz) with his ridiculous stunts, Kermit and Miss Piggy’s romance, musical interludes, celebrity cameos, and Statler and Waldorf heckling the performers. It’s all there. The weakest aspect is probably from the presence of the human protagonists, though they’re by no means a serious detriment to the movie. In fact, Jason Segel and Amy Adams are good and quite likeable. They’re funny, perform in the musical numbers and even have a small character arc to go through. The problem with it is how unnecessary they are. Once the Muppets enter into the plot, Jason Segel and Amy Adams are no longer needed and it’s obvious. The scenes with the Muppets driving around are good examples of this. While the Muppets talk and make jokes, the humans quietly sit in the back seat and let them do their thing. Again, they don’t hurt the movie, but they don’t really add a whole lot to it either. 

As with all Muppet movies, this one is a musical and this time around the original songs written for the movie were done by Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Conchords fame). Bret McKenzie’s songs are all really catchy and clever, the most ridiculous and hilarious of these being the song that Chris Cooper spontaneously erupts into. The music has the same recognizable humor and wit that Flight of the Conchords is known for, which suits the Muppets perfectly. It’s hard not to like this movie. The characters are charming, funny, and nostalgic, which is something this movie plays to significantly. The humor of these characters has remained largely unchanged over the years, and yet has not become dated. It’s much in the same way that the Looney Tunes are still funny after so many decades. The humor and charm of the Muppets is directed at everyone, not just children. They tell their jokes straight without a hint of condescension and anyone can find it funny. This is a reminder of why the Muppets are still around after all these years and even in a time when nearly every family film is computer animated, there’s still a place for puppets.