The Muppets is an irreverent return to all things Muppet-y. The film is a celebration of the fun and zaniness that has made Muppets a success for decades. Sure, it is not perfect, but it is sweet, clever, and strange. What more could you ask for? If you have ever been a lover or a dreamer, you will enjoy some of the joy the Muppets have to offer.
The Muppet adventure is fitting. Brothers Walter (a manly muppet) and Gary (a muppet like man) (Jason Segel) are Muppet-philes off to Los Angeles with Gary’s fiancée Mary (Amy Adams) to visit the Muppet Theater. When they discover that Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) is buying the Theater with sinister plans, the trio rally to get the Muppets back together to save the Theater and the Muppets. The cinematic relaunch of the Muppets is a literal relaunch of the Muppets.
What makes the Muppets great is that it is above all other things fun. The Muppets are self-deprecating and goofy. They are able the live in a place between reality and imagination. The Muppets remind us that it is never necessary to take yourself too seriously.
I will admit that nostalgia plays a part in my enjoyment of the film. You get to travel down memory lane as every Muppet (and star cameo) wanders by. But it is the return to simplicity that is the very point of the film. We spend too much time preoccupied with money and success and too little time worried about happiness, family, and friendship.
The sentiment is captured in the song “Pictures in My Head” as Kermit recalls the good times the Muppets used to have and laments that they are only pictures in his head now. As they scurry around the globe trying to get the team back together (by map and montage, of course) we find the Muppets have obtained various levels of success from fashion magazine editor to business owner to Reno lounge act. But, in the end, each remembers that their time together was the most precious. I am happy to be nostalgic, but the true message is that we can always contemporaneously capture those sentiments if we make it a priority. The Muppet dream is attainable.
Director James Bobin is the perfect match for the Muppets. Best known as a writer and director on Flight of the Conchords and Da Ali G Show. He has the right level of quirkiness to match a cast that is imagination and fluff. Bobin is able to extract the right touch of whimsy and sarcasm to make the film just cheeky enough; after all there always was something a little adult about the Muppets.
Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords is the music supervisor and fans of the show will certainly appreciate the silliness he captures in the soundtrack. The music is terrific. He moves his off-beat humor to the film, including a great mix of self-deprecating humor with songs that openly mock everything from musical numbers to the interactions between Muppets and people.
Amy Adams is once again a real prize. The way she carries herself makes her near Muppet-ness seem genuine and tender. She drips with honey-like sweetness; but in numbers like “Party of One” truly captures a sense of loneliness. It really should not come as a surprise given her previous terrific turn as a human-cartoon hybrid.
If there is a shortcoming to the Muppets it is that some of the scenes fall a little flat. The result is that at times the film seems a little disjointed. But even the unevenness does little to distract from a wonderful film.
PARSI VERDICT: A fantastic journey to recapture all that is the Muppets.