The Muppets (A Review)

[ericadawn16]

This is my more detailed review of The Muppets
http://www.yourhighwayinthesky.com/2011/11/the-muppets/

Comments

[marie-j-granger.livejournal.com]

I thought about you when I went to see it. Hubby and I took two of his younger sisters on the day it came out. (They're adults or nearly so, though.) We loved it. We'd gone to see Muppets from Space back in the day and enjoyed it, but this one felt more true to the older ones. We were singing along and having a great time. My parents also went and loved it. Haven't yet talked to anyone who has taken children, though. My little cousins were excited about it.

For the record, my favorite has always been Great Muppet Caper, which also had weird romance-y aspects to it. I'm also a huge How I Met Your Mother fan, so I'm rather predisposed to like Jason. We also enjoyed Flight of the Conchords. So it pushes all the right buttons for me and I'm thrilled that the next generation is getting introduced to them.

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

You know, I think that might be part of the problem. Jason and I really aren't that far apart in age but I adore the '90s films. My ranking would probably be:
Muppet Christmas Carol>Muppets Take Manhattan>The Muppets>Muppets From Space>Muppet Treasure Island>The Muppet Movie>The Great Muppet Caper

I saw it again today and really thought about my Muppet history; what I liked as a kid. In my love for Animal, I think I lost track of how much I love Gonzo, Rizzo and Bean Bunny. Gonzo and Rizzo got to play pivotal roles in all the 90s films and I really missed that here. Gonzo didn't really have much of a role after he blew up his business. I loved that Rizzo had his scarf from Muppet Christmas Carol but he didn't have any dialogue at all. I tried to watch very carefully. I suppose one or two lines could have slipped by me but my mom couldn't recall him saying anything either.

Bean Bunny, like Robin and Clifford, was completely MIA.

I still think it wouldn't work as the best introduction for every child because my two younger nephews would have been bored through a lot of it. They need fairly constant action. My oldest nephew, 14, will probably enjoy it.

I also love Jason Segel and Flight of the Conchords. I did enjoy the film a lot better the second time and the songs are beginning to grow on me, but I think another part of the problem was the realism which I know sounds weird for a Muppets film but to me, the Muppets have a lot of life lessons in their films. In Christmas Carol, Scrooge is able to be convinced to change on his own. Here, we have an oil tycoon who masquerades as a philanthropist and he doesn't change willingly. He has to suffer a brain injury before he does the right thing.
It sort of rubbed me the wrong way as though our only hope against evil billionaires aka most of the 1% is that they suffer brain injuries? I preferred thinking that if given the chance, a person can make the RIGHT decision like Uncle Deadly.

Also, once again and I forgot to mention this before, Bobo the Bear was a henchman. In the next film, I would love for him not to be working for the bad guy.