The Muppets: Review By kiion

Its time to play the music, Its time to light the lights its time to meet the muppets as finally after 12 years missing from cinemas, and four months after American audiences have had it released, the Muppets have a brand new adventure released in the United Kingdom. It is a welcome return for many fans of the series, and luckily the film has more than enough of the charm and style that the original series, and subsequent films, had that this film is able to stand up and be counted for its true merit in being a seriously muppet branded movie.

The Muppets are a brand, for those of you who do not know, that was created by master puppeteer Jim Henson in 1954. Showing puppets in a completely different light to what had come before, the muppets became instantly popular with many audiences. With stand up jokes, and many great cameo guests the television series spawned many seasons and plenty of different films. When the creator died however, the Muppet brand was sold to the Walt Disney company. This is the first film that this company has released using this property since 1996's Treasure Island. With all muppet material, the audience is only asked to not see the characters as puppets, but as living specimens. This film is no different and as such feels completely nostalgic to those who enjoy the muppets for what they are. This is great thing as it allows fans of the franchise to find enjoyment, and allows new audience members to develop connection to the characters, especially those who perhaps have not seen or heard anything to do with the muppets before.

The plot of this film revolves around three characters; Gary a human who comes from smalltown who is traveling with his girlfriend and brother to Los Angeles, Mary his girlfriend who loves her boyfriend but is getting annoyed with the younger brother always being present in the relationship, and Walter Gary's muppet brother who idolizes Kermit and Company and as such is allowed to tag along on the trip with the hope that he will meet his Idols. When the three characters get to the Muppet studio however, it is not the glamourous place they imagined. Instead it is a run down old wreck of a building. In steps antagonist Tex Richman, a wealthy businessman who hopes in taking over the studio and digging for the oil that can be found underneath. In hope of saving the studio, it is up to Walter and the others to bring back Kermit and together stage a special reunion show, in hopes of raising ten million dollars which will be enough for the gang to own the studio once more.

It is a nice plot that is very fun to watch. Being a musical this film is highly enjoyable and easy to watch, both for younger audiences and the older ones too. It has very comedic scenes too which add to this ease of watching and shows what the muppets truly are, a franchise that you can sit back and enjoy without allowing yourself to think too much. Throughout the movie audience members are asked to enjoy this film, and as such this film is a very happy movie that fits in with what it tries to achieve correctly.

Aside from the muppet performers, who do the many puppet roles to perfection, the human actors are also pitch perfect in their performances. Jason Segel is excellent as Gary, showing a man who is torn between the love for his girlfriend as well as the love he has for his brother. The movie never feels odd in the way that it shows Gary to have a puppet sibling, it just always seems to fit correctly, this is testament to the writing and charm of the movie. The role allows Segel to show the admiration he had for the muppet franchise and being one of the co creators of this movie has allowed Segel to play the role that he wanted to play. Amy Adams acts Mary to the same charm that can be found in her other similar movie 'Enchanted'. Playing a character that is so nice must come easy to Adams as she portrays this role in such a way that pure sweetness is constantly apparent. Chris Cooper acts Tex Richman in a way that shows he is the productions main antagonist but that he is never seen to be truly evil, a true bad guy from a child's film. Some of the best gags can be found are at his expense, and Cooper seems happy allowing this to be the centre point of his character. With this film, like the television series, a lot of cameo stars bulk out the rest of the human cast. In this movie they all seem surprising to be included but all add to the overall movie effect. Stand out cameos in this film include Jack Black, Emily Blunt and Dave Grohl who all play their cameos to the max that they can. A lot of the films magic is found in these cameo pieces and it is nice that the film makers have decided to produce them correctly and in fitting with the feel of the rest of the film.

As this film is a musical a lot of the attention will fall towards the songs that are used throughout. Even though this film is not a perfect musical film it does have some outstanding songs and those that many people would not have thought to include. Stand out songs that are found within this movie are the likes of 'Life's a Happy Song' and 'Me Party'. These songs are the strongest due largely to the fact that they incorporate a key point that is found in the movie, having interesting lyrics and are acted on screen perfectly. Many songs have these factors but these are the ones that really stand out when the film has finished. It was a shame to see certain songs that seem depressing within this movie, as they did not seem to fit in with the way the film was shown, slowing down the pace of the overall picture. Luckily there is only a couple of times that these can be found and as such the decision to include them can be forgiven.

'The Muppets' is a movie that will bring, to many audience members the feeling of happiness that only these sort of movies can bring. It is nice to see the franchise back at its best, and through the love that the creators had for the original series. it is easily accounted for on screen. Aside from a couple of dull songs the film holds a good pace, and has enough laughs to keep everyone who watches it happy. The lack of a true ending does not effect the movie in any way, but it is a strange decision to end it on the way that it did. With only small issues that stop it from being a perfect trip through a nostalgic subject, the Muppets are back in style and hopefully will remain there for some time.