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The last theatrical release movie featuring the Muppets was "Muppets From Space," way back in 1999. With an estimated budget of $24 million, and a box office gross of less than $17 million, it was apparently taken by Hollywood as a message that the Muppets were no longer a sound business venture for the entertainment dollar. Muppet productions since have been primarily made for TV, and it seemed that the Muppet movie magic was gone.
This real-life fact sets the stage for "The Muppets," as the eclectic band of puppets is portrayed early in the movie as passé has-beens in the Hollywood scene. The Muppet Theater lies in disrepair, the performers have gone their separate ways into other careers, and the world seems to have all but forgotten them.
Enter Walter (voiced by Peter Linz), Gary (Jason Segal), and Mary (Amy Adams), three residents of the fictitious Smalltown, who take a vacation to Los Angeles and visit the old decrepit Muppet Studios. While there, Walter overhears Oil Baron Tex Richman's plans to tear down the property and drill for oil. To save the Muppet Theater, Walter, Gary, and Mary must convince Kermit to get the Muppets back together again for one more show. If they can, the money can be raised to save the Theater.
In writing a review, this sounds like a bit too cliché of a plot, but it's important to remember that this is the Muppets we're discussing. The Muppet writers and performers have made a great career out of skewering clichés and having a blast doing it. In that, this movie doesn't disappoint. From the first song and dance routine featuring Walter, Gary, Mary, and assorted residents of Smalltown, right through to the very end, long-time fans of the Muppets will get what they came for - hokey schtick with the trademark sly, self-deprecating humor, served up in abundance. Just when you think they may have forgotten this technique, the movie reminds you that this is still the Muppets.
While the production lacks the two original "biggies" of the Muppet family, namely Jim Henson and Frank Oz, it plays most like the early Muppet productions featuring those two creative giants, than perhaps any other Muppet movie since Henson's death in 1990. The scenes harkening back to the original Muppet Show from the 1970s were both fun, and nostalgic, and this seems like one of the best moves made by the filmmakers for this movie. The Smalltown characters grew up on the Muppet Show, and many of us in the audience likewise still have a special place in our hearts for the characters and humor this series brought to our screens.
As with most of the Muppet movies, celebrity cameos are in abundance. Some are lengthy enough and obvious enough that you can't miss them, while others are subtle and short. The same with various sight gags and scenery details - there are just too many things in this film to catch in only one viewing.
Viewers will find little in The Muppets to be objectionable. The film received a PG rating for some mild rude humor, which may have been nothing more than Fozzie Bear's "Fart Shoes" (shoes with whoopee cushions tied on the bottom). Parents can take children to this movie without fears of graphic violence, profanity, sex, or nudity. That Hollywood can still make a film without any of these elements, is nothing short of a miracle itself, these days.
It's been twelve years since the Muppets last graced the Big Screen, and thirty years since The Muppet Show went off the air. This movie is long overdue, and I left the theater feeling I'd received my money's worth and more. Let's hope it won't be as long until we get to see the Muppets again.
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