Words can hardly contain our excitement over the triumphant return of our favorite band of fabric-made merrymakers, The Muppets. In what is one of the best franchise re-launches since Batman Begins, this film has everything for die-hard fans and neophytes alike with a clever premise that reunites the entire cast and sets up possibilities for a whole new series of films.
Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan (who just happens to also be made of felt), his brother Gary (Jason Segel) and Gary’s girlfriend, Mary (Amy Adams) travel to Los Angeles for vacation in hopes of touring Muppet Studios. When they arrive and it’s all but shut down and boarded up, they launch a plan to track down Kermit and his pals to stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever to raise $10 million. This is the sum needed to prevent Muppet Studios from being demolished to drill for oil by the evil Tex Richman (Chris Cooper).
Filled with catchy, hilarious musical numbers and the Muppets’ own unique brand of mayhem, the movie never goes for the shock value of filling the characters with cynicism or foul language. (We’ve got the delightful Avenue Q for that.) Instead, they’re treated simply like stars who’ve gone their separate ways and realize what they’ve been missing by joining forces again.
Just like The Muppet Show and various Muppet movies before it, there are plenty of celebrity cameos, too, including Jack Black, Sarah Silverman, Whoopi Goldberg and everybody’s favorite gay, Neil Patrick Harris.
It’s the perfect holiday weekend movie, too, because you can drag the kids, your teenage nieces and nephews, and even your parents. Everyone will enjoy it.
Besides, any movie that can get a group of Muppet chickens to sing Cee Lo Green’s F*ck You and have it come across as wholesome comedy is pretty damned genius in our book.
Opens today in theaters everywhere
Disney.go.com/muppets
