The Muppets (2011):

The Muppets

Jason Segel - Gary

Amy Adams - Mary

Chris Cooper - Tex Richman

Rashida Jones - CDE Executive

Peter Linz - Voice Of Walter

Director:

 James Bobin (Da Ali G Show; Flight Of The Concordes)

Rotten Tomatoes: 96%

Flixster: 84%

Synopsis:

On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary and Mary from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets' former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate.

Review:

It's not that I hated this film, I just felt like I had seen it before. Maybe if I had never seen any of the other Muppet movies growing up, it would have been much better for me. But it just seems like most of the Muppet movies involve them having a falling out, not talking to each other, human's convincing them they need to get the show back together & some bad guy trying to stop them. I also thought that since they movie was set in the moderns age that the comedy might not be so stale & old school, but it's got the same jokes as you would have seen in the 80's. With Jason Segel a major part of this production I was also disappointed at the mediocre songs performed in the film. I didn't think that any of them were very good or extremely catchy. Even thought "Man or Muppet" won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, It's kind of because they changed the category so the song nominated had to be written specifically for the film & since I'm fairly certain NO ONE saw Rio it was kind of a one horse race. Some of the characters weren't used very much & had minimal story, lines or appearances. Why the hell wasn't Rizzo a main player in this!?!? When I heard about the Chris Cooper rap, I was intrigued but then once I saw it, I thought it sounded flat, forced & poorly written. I will say that however you could tell that Segel & Stoller were clearly old school Muppet fans because of all the subtle references made, the recreation of the originals Muppet Show opening & the fact that they brought back all of the Muppets from all the smaller skits from the show which was very cool. The cameo's were also really good. Was not mad about the Jack Black performance, which is something new for me. Overall it was good, but not great.

56%

Lead Acting: 8/15
Supporting Cast: 6/15
Plot: 3/10
Compared To The Genre: 3/10
Cinematography: 16/20
Intrigue: 13/20
Extra: 7/10