After about twelve years, the famed Muppets return to the big screen in the movie The Muppets. The Muppets tells of a puppet named Walter who always felt different; which is understandable when his brother Greg, played by Jason Segel, and his parents are both human. One day, he and his brother stumble upon the 1970’s variety show, The Muppet Show, and Walter is changed forever. He grew up loving the Muppets and always wanting to meet them, and finally, he gets his chance when he goes to Los Angeles with Greg and his fiancée, Mary, played by Amy Adams, to see Muppet Studios. However, the studios are run down and up for sale, and the film’s villain, Tex Richman, played by Chris Cooper, wants to buy and destroy them. It’s up to Walter and Greg to get all the Muppets together to save the studios from destruction.
Although the commercial previews make this seem like a really childish film, it is so much more than that. It takes its time showing why the Muppets haven’t been around in a long time, and there are moments that will surely tug at the heartstrings. The jokes are played out so that not only will children not be bored, but adults can be entertained as well. Muppet fans will also enjoy Muppet-related inside jokes ranging from obscure Muppets as background characters to photos from “The Muppet Show”.
The music in this film is perfectly timed, the numbers never outstaying their welcome and are evenly spaced throughout the film. The big numbers in particular stand out, as most films today don’t do big music numbers or, if they do, the music numbers aren’t memorable. The sets are also well thought out, from the old rundown Muppet Studios to the various places the Muppets have been staying. The sets are well detailed and convey the appropriate emotions that they want to establish.
The puppetry in this film is a very well thought out, as to be expected from the Jim Henson Company. They flow seamlessly with most human actors, who act very well alongside the puppets. There was never a feeling of one puppet trying to upstage the other one for attention. If there is anything bad to say about the film, it has to be with the villain, Tex Richman. He never has a solid presence in the film and feels tacked on only so the characters have a villain to contend with. Chris Cooper also overacts with the character trying to make a presence, but it never quite works.
Overall, the film feels like a love letter to the classic Muppets and their style of storytelling. The film feels like an old Muppet film with self-referencing jokes to not only old pop culture, but to new pop culture as well. This is a great way of reintroducing people to the Muppets and what they mean to people at large. A viewer will start to remember the first time they ever saw Kermit the Frog and the other Muppets, and feel really good to see them reunited. Not only will kids have a good time with the classic, silly style that Jim Henson established with the Muppets over thirty years ago, but adults will enjoy the film for the same reasons.