Maybe not everyone gets them, but for some of us, the Muppets are most wanted indeed. Now entering their sixth decade of cultural relevance, The Muppets themselves have always been old school; even in the 70’s, their routines recalled music hall or vaudeville theatre. So it’s right that this new 2014 version still harks back to ancient routines; Kermit the frog and his Russian lookalike Constantine have a routine involving a mirror that was popular long before cinema was invented.
The original Muppet Movie reboot focused not on the Muppets themselves, but on human main characters in the form of Amy Adams and Jason Segal; that’s corrected in this 2014 James Bobin sequel, which opens with a cheerful song about how sequels are never as good as the original film. Instead, the focus is Kermit, who is seduced by Dominic Badguy (an ill-at-ease Ricky Gervais) into a European tour which is merely the cover for an series of robberies, leading to a hidden treasure.
Kermit is mistaken for Russian crime-boss Constantine (also Kermit), who takes over at the helm while Kermit languishes in a Gulag run by Tina Fey. Appearing in a Muppet Movie has considerable cultural cache even if you’ve already made it, as Lady Gaga and the late Tony Bennett can attest, and cameos from Ray Liotta, Danny Trejo, Tom Hiddlestone, James McAvoy and many more add to the jokey feel.
While not the best Muppet movie, Muppets Most Wanted is amiable enough to be going on with even if it doesn’t resolve the perennial problem of what do do with the Muppets themselves; it’s an IP to die for, with ageless creations who never get involved in off-screen scandals. But Muppets Most Wanted does better than most by focusing on the interaction between muppets and celebrities; a quick look back at the famous chemistry they generated with Michael Caine on Christmas Carol or Billy Connolly on Muppet Treasure Island is a reminder that the concept doesn’t have to be complicated when the charm can be so simple.
Never really got into the Muppets on the big screen.
Sigh. Your loss.
Well you and Booky enjoy, I’ve enough muppets in my world.
I can imagine. Shame about that lovely tree, any intel on where it went?
It’s still there lying on its side. I expect they’ll have to chop it up and remove it. Did you see it on the news or my blog?
Both.
Oh, I thought it had vanished. That’s rubbish. What kind of chainsaw wielding vandals do you have down there?
https://fragglerocking.org/2023/09/28/this-world/
Stupid ones. Once his name is out he’s always going to be known as the guy who chopped Kevin Costner’s tree down, and vilified all his life.
It wasn’t just kev’s tree, it belonged to all of us. I just don’t see what was to be gained from this.
Some 16 year old boy has been arrested.
Yes, I heard. They caught him quite quickly as they arrested him yesterday. Plonker.
An affront to the memory of Bryan Adams.
He isn’t dead!
Not as long as I remember him.
Sigh.
For me, the silliness was just right. It wasn’t childish, but it wasn’t all “let’s have a message” like the previous movie. While I adore Amy Adams, that reboot wasn’t about the Muppets but just used them. THIS was about the Muppets indeed.
I think it helped that Gervais wasn’t acting out his usual character but had to be something really different.
I think your idea of the Muppets doing old school stuff is the way to go. Let them lean into it really hard. If they did dancehalls and comedy sketches in the 70’s, let them today do something that typified the 80’s movie and entertainment scene. Make a movie about that.
I also think they should go back to doing the classic with the Muppet riff. Wizard of Oz was not even mediocre. The idea was a good one, but it was the execution all round that sank that one.
I think we are in full agreement that going back to their vaudevillian roots is the way forward. Hopefully our discussion can be a turning point in how we see the Muppets looking to the future.
I think it really is the way to go. But I don’t see stuff-shirt tv or movie execs going for it. Probably about time for me to have another run through of all the Muppet shows and movies 🙂
Muppets vs Evil Dead is also a possibility. I can see Kermit waving his green arms around as Miss Piggy’s head vomits blood on him.
Mix up the franchises? I can see that working. The Frog and the Furious
Fozzie Wick
Mission Pigpossible
and the tv show variations are almost endless.
Muppet Demon Car Baby for the arthouse crowd. Good Grief the comedian’s a Cocaine Bear. It writes itself.
The ideas are flowing! Good thing we’re writing these down. I won’t remember a single one tomorrow morning…
I’m counting on it.
Don’t think I saw any of the muppet movies after The Muppet Movie, which I liked. 2014 seems late in the day for them to have still been at it. But with superfans like Booky around . . .
The reboots were good, but somehow didn’t click with audiences. There seems to be a continual drive to reinvent and make them relevant, but I don’t see why. It wasn’t like we were all digging music hall variety shows in the mid 70’s. Surely their appeal is meant to be throwback…