Muppet Madness

Muppet Madness

Sorry, but there will once again be no Sunday Lister this week. This is due to the fact that after three months of waiting I went to see The Muppets date and like a kid at Christmas, I must have an outlet to tell you lovely people what I thought of it. 

The Muppets was not perfect, it overran a tad, a few of the cameos didn’t work and some of the cuts felt a bit jumpy leading to a few of the gags being lost. That being said, it was still pretty great and a very enjoyable movie. It didn’t quite live up to my super super high expectations, but to be honest, it would have had to been nothing short of outstanding to do so. 

What the film did prove though, was that The Muppets still have it. And boy do they have it in abundance. In a world where you can get an App to manage your App’s and your thoughts are limited to a 140 characters, The Muppets proved that you don’t have to be high-tech to be good and a bit of old school tomfoolery will never go a miss. 

The key to the Muppets success? Well they certainly don’t take themselves seriously that’s for sure. They don’t preach political messages; they don’t over confuse the humour with dramatic plot points and twists. They are what they are. They’re the Muppets and their fun. 

What you see is what you get with Kermit and company. Yes, the story will be quite obvious; the lessons learnt will be ones we already know and there will be fart jokes by the handful. But you will smile at Fozzie Bear’s rubbish puns, you will laugh at 80s Robot’s dated references and you will want Animal to play the drums so bad. 

In any other context, these gags probably wouldn’t work. But, The Muppets deliver them with such conviction and vigour, that you can’t help but love them. What you see is what you get with Kermit and the others. They know exactly what they are and who their audience is and they don’t complain about it. They’re honest about their humour and who can blame them with that. 

It takes a special breed of person to embrace the qualities of a Muppet. But, Jason Segal, Amy Adams and the majority of the cameos in the film (bar Sarah Silverman) do it with gusto. These actors are pretty much real life Muppets themselves, adding to The Muppets superb class of puppets without missing a beat. 

One of Brett McKenzie’s songs poses the question ‘Man or Muppet’. Despite being a good song, I think it’s flawed because can’t we be both?

Gotta love them Commies, ey?

Until next time, enjoy the show.

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Or email me at  cinemascreenandspandex@gmail.com

Daniel Morris