When the Muppets burst back on to the scene back in 2011, we all collectively realised how much we missed our furry friends on the big screen. Debuting on the Sam and Friends show back in 1961, the Muppets soon won over their audiences and managed to get their own show after multiple appearances on Sesame Street. Their first feature film, the brilliant Muppet Movie was released in 1979 with some brilliant sequels including Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppets Take Manhattan.
With the studio taken over by Disney in 2004, the Muppets began their comeback in 2008. Of course, regardless of who was cast in the film, cinema-going audiences were going to be delighted with their return. Little did they realise just how brilliant The Muppets was going to be. With Jason Segel signed on as a writer and Bret McKenzie as the main composer, there really wasn’t any way The Muppets could fail. It didn’t, it even won an Oscar.
Thankfully, with the success of the previous Muppets adventure, we are going to be graced with more.
In Muppets Most Wanted, Kermit and the gang discover that after the success of their stage show, they are now international stars and hot property. With this new success, comes an offer from a promoter, Badguy (Ricky Gervais) who wants to take the Muppets out on the road to the most popular European cities. However, of course, Badguy is exactly what you would expect, the Bad Guy.
It turns out Badguy works for the world’s most notorious criminal, Constantine, who after breaking out of prison replaces Kermit as the head of the Muppets, ensuring that he has the world’s most loved frog sent to prison. While out on the road and the Muppets are on stage, Constantine breaks into various locations in Europe, stealing some of the world’s most beloved objects.
First off, it is literally impossible to make a bad Muppets film, no matter how ridiculous the plot, the Muppet’s characters will always win us over in the end. That being said, Muppets Most Wanted, although still incredibly enjoyable, is not as good as the last film from our furry heroes. The jokes are still there, but in terms of script, it suffers slightly from the lack of Jason Segel as a writer.
The musical numbers are all still excellent, in fact the number with Constantine and Badguy is probably the best in the film. Bret McKenzie is still on hand for all the music, which, let’s face it, is one of the main draws to a Muppets film.
On top of that, the support cast are just brilliant; Tina Fey and Ricky Gervais are brilliant additions but the real show stealer is the hilarious appearance from Celine Dion. The cast in general proves just how popular the Muppets are and how many people still want to work with them.
Not as good as the last one, but definitely still worth a watch.
