It’s time to put on make-up, it’s time to light the lights… yes The Muppets Movie goes on release across the UK this week. We were treated to a sneak preview of it – here’s No 1 Son’s review:
The Muppets follows the story of Walter, obviously a Muppet at heart, who is for some reason stuck in a house with Jason Segel, his brother, and intrudes on Segel’s romantic trip to LA with his girlfriend, Amy Adams. There, Walter discovers a plan by an evil oil tycoon to knock down the Muppets’ studio, and works to unite the Muppets together again to raise enough money to save their studio. The two humans give great performances, and the constant cameos are wonderfully entertaining – Neil Patrick Harris, Whoopi Goldberg, Selena Gomez, Dave Grohl, Jim Parsons and Jack Black to name a few.
What of the Muppets themselves? You could probably have watched them first time round in the 70s and in this movie and not really be able to tell the difference, even with the different voices. Each one has acquired an amusing profession in his time away from their show (apart from Kermit, who pines after Miss Piggy), and each one has maintained their endearing personality. The songs are as sharp and witty as they ever were – watching a barbershop quartet version of Smells Like Teen spirit is surreal, yet hilarious.
The Muppets should never be taken seriously. But what’s brilliant about it is that it doesn’t take itself seriously either – it just wants you to have a good time, which is exactly what you will have. 4 stars (out of 5)