The Muppets: James Bobin

It's been a long time coming, but the Muppets have finally returned to the big screen! Let me be frank for a minute...I love the Muppets. I had a huge collection of their movies when I was a kid that I would watch religiously. In my home, it's a tradition to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol every holiday season. So when I heard that there was a new Muppet movie (appropriately entitled The Muppets) I knew that I had to see it. And...it was alright. My biggest problem is that it seems like it is trying too hard to recapture the simplistic greatness of the Jim Henson years while mixing it with what Hollywood considers modern humor and sensibilities. Allow me to explain...the film focuses on two brothers, Walter (a Muppet) and Gary (a human), who travel to Los Angeles with Gary's girlfriend of ten years, Mary. They want to celebrate Gary and Mary's anniversary, but they get side-tracked by Walter's desire to see the old Muppets Studio. Upon seeing that it is run down and decrepit, Walter becomes determined to reunite the Muppets. This, of course, is further motivated when he learns that an evil businessman, Tex Richman, plans on buying the studio so he can tear it down and drill for oil. The Muppets have two days to raise $10 million so they can buy back the studio. And this is a fine and decent plot for a Muppets movie. I genuinely appreciated how it mediated on how the Muppets haven't been culturally relevant for years and that most people have forgotten about them. But remember what I said about it trying too hard to reconcile old school Muppets with modern sensibilities? This is best summed up in the very last scene where the triumphant Muppets are greeted by a massive cheering crowd. But look closely at that crowd...there aren't any children in it. It is comprised entirely of adults. It seems that Hollywood has forgotten what truly made the Muppets great: the fact that they excelled at creating family friendly entertainment that wasn't only genuinely fun but also didn't talk down to young children. The Muppets may have been fun for adults when they first appeared...but they captured the hearts of the children. The Muppets worked not just because they are funny (as humor is relative to time period and culture) but because they spoke to our emotions, fears, and hopes (things that are universal). And that's where I think this film misses the point: the Muppets don't have to be inundated with clever, fourth-wall breaking humor, untold swarms of celebrity cameos, and forced silliness. The Muppets are a timeless phenomenon. When done properly, the Muppets don't have to be defined by time period. This speaks to how the film doesn't focus on the Muppets, but on Walter and Gary who exist solely so they can position the Muppets as an old act. We don't need Walter and Gary to frame the Muppets. We just need...well...the Muppets.

6/10