THE MUPPETS- He said/She said

THE MUPPETS

Directed by: James Booth

Written by: Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller

Starring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, and Chris Cooper

Synopsis: The Muppets must come together to save their beloved studio from an evil business man.

Jonesy: Yes, THE MUPPETS is everything you expect from a family movie: light-hearted with a sweet message, fun characters and of course, song and dance numbers. We're introduced to the newest character, Walter, as the self-proclaimed "biggest muppet fan". He stumbles upon a sinister plot by the evil Tex Richman (Cooper, who was born to play the melodramatic bad guy and steals most of the scenes he's in) to destroy the old muppet studio, so Walter, his brother Gary (Segel), and Gary's girlfriend, Mary (Adams), band together to tell Kermit and help the Muppets stop the destruction of their studio.

However, what was so astonishing is not how funny but rather how witty the script was. The script was full of jokes that wink and laugh with the audience, and I found laughing more than the children in the audience. The script is versatile enough to introduce newcomers to the world of the Muppets, yet it pays homage to all of our classic characters. And everyone's favorites are back, whether you're a Fozzie fella or a Gonzo gal, they're all are there. The strength of the film is watching the Muppets come back together after being separated for many years, and the film drags a bit when it shifted focus to the humans, mainly the weak subplot of Gary and Mary having relationship issues. But most of that can be forgiven because the rest of the movie is such fun.

All in all, I cannot remember the last family movie I've seen that wasn't pure cheesy cheese that may as well be an ABC Family Original movie or an animated feature. THE MUPPETS is a well-balanced mix for young newcomers and old fans. So go and take everyone you know to see it. We need more fun and witty movies like this coming out of Hollywood.

'

Javi: So like I was telling a few of my friends, I have very sporadic memories of the Muppets, but my biggest ones being the fact that Gonzo was my favorite, and that of the Muppet Babies cartoon. However, when I saw all of the excitement for the new Muppets movie, I couldn't help but get excited. That being said this was definitely a great movie, with the perfect mix of meta-humor and the old cheesy "jee golly" sort of humor of the years past that has been missing from mainstream movies for some time.

I was very worried that the movie would be just an excuse for Jason Segel to play with more puppets, since his love for them first seen in FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL. But seeing all of the actual love that comes across in the references, and in the writing, I see he's the real deal; a true fan of a franchise that has been gone for too long.

The use of the soundtrack is a big highlight for me seeing as how it's basically a Flight Of The Conchords/Muppets collaboration, with most of the songs  being written by Bret McKinzie. And the song choices throughout the movie such as "Bad To The Bone"was not sound completely cliche and uninspired. The highlight of the movie for me trying to see all of the Muppets all of the sudden appear all over the place and each getting their part in the big show. As my friend John pointed out, not all of the Muppets make it back on screen, but that's OK, there's always the sequel.

My only big gripe with the movie was that even for its very kiddie approach to comedy and story-telling, there was zero amount of tension in the plot. Every time there was an obstacle or a problem or a fight, it would get resolved within a minute, or with very little explanation, for the sake of spoilers, I won't into specifics, but trust me on this one. And finally, while I know that the former show and the movies were full of them, I was sort of annoyed by all of the celebrity cameos, if only because the big message of the movie was how important the Muppets are and how cherished they should be. I would imagine that a movie with that message could use a random scene without Sarah Silverman in it.

Overall, this was an amazing movie, it's not quite Top 10 material for me, but the joy that it brought me has not been topped by a "kid's movie" since RANGO earlier on this year. Do yourselves a favor and go see this with the whole family this weekend.

Tweet