Rating of
3/4
Not the Greatest Muppet Movie Ever
mitchellyoung - wrote on 12/28/11
It's a good thing Jason Segel didn't go with his original idea for this film's title: The Greatest Muppet Movie ever. It isn't close to being that, but that doesn't mean it isn't an enjoyable and nostalgic throwback to remembering the past films of the franchise. Segel, for his part, and Amy Adams throw themselves into the material with energetic exuberance that carries a lot of the film's slower parts. The cameos are great, but I think that less may have been more with the cameos in the past films and that isn't the case here (there's a celebrity telethon - an excuse to pointlessly show a few famous faces without many laughs.) The best cameo, actually, hands down, is Muppet Walter's human counterpart, shown in Walter's reflection in a mirror. The songs themselves are fun, but lack the melancholy magic of the best Muppet songs, such as Rainbow Connection (though that song is reprised, of course) or Halfway Down the Stairs. In all, the film's a fun family movie, but, in all aspects, falls short of the originality and heart the original Muppet films conveyed. My personal guess is this is due to the absence of Jim Henson, who was the life force behind the films of the 80's (and, consequently, not responsible for the travesty that is Muppets in Space.)
