Review - Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

At the Theater - "Muppets Most Wanted" (2014) -The Muppets return in their eight theatrical film, a welcomed improvement over 2011's disappointingly stagnant The Muppets and much, much closer in tone and in spirit to the 1979 original film. I felt a little foolish (and a bit sad) being in an empty theater to watch this, though it was well worth it.

The film begins mere seconds after the events in the previous film, with Kermit and Company left undecided on just what to do next.  Swayed by the charms of Ricky Gervais's dubious international talent manager, "Dominic Badguy", the Muppets elect to embark on a world tour.  Just as their tour begins, and unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, Kermit is mistaken by authorities as the world class thief at large (and amazing lookalike), "Constantine".  While Kermit is whisked away to be held in a Siberian Gulag by an infatuated prison guard,"Nadya", played by the very sexy Tina Fey (her Russian accent only adds to the sexiness!), Constantine assumes Kermit's identity and uses the tour as a cover for his epic crime spree.  Ty Burrell's French Interpol Agent "Jean Pierre Napoleon" and Sam The Eagle join forces to crack the mounting cases of art robberies which curiously coincide with the Muppets nearby performances...

I felt that 2011's The Muppets quickly bogged itself down with unnecessary subplots and spun it's wheels for the vast majority of the film, never really igniting as high entertainment and rarely any kind of fun- it featured too much of Jason Segel and Amy Adams and not nearly enough of the Muppets themselves (there's a heckuva joke in Muppets Most Wanted, involving "Robin", aimed at one of these "problems").  The expected cameos in the 2011 film were woefully thin as well.

Muppets Most Wanted is a return to form in that the musical numbers are energetic and catchy while the cameos are plentiful and come at a brisk clip- I came to the realization that I was tapping my feet along with a few of the songs.  As far as the cameos are concerned, expect a great mix of certified stars and character actors alike.  ***I've listed them at the bottom here for those who would rather not have them spoiled.  The humor is solid throughout and is often of the self-deprecating and tongue-in-cheek variety.

Things are looking pretty grim for this film at the U.S. Box Office and there's no good reason for that- the creative drive at work here and the resultant legitimate fun is comparable to any one of Disney's last few highly successful animated flicks (yes, even that girly-girl ice-princess flick with the annoying, goofball snowman thingy).  It's fairly evident that today's children are more interested in the whizz-bang digital effects utilized in those films and have a waning desire to see their characters made of reticulated polyfoam, armature wire and antron fleece- if that's the case, we've all lost something along the way.

Highly Recommended, check it out in Theaters.

8.5 out of 10

Director: James Bobin
Cast: The Muppets, of course!  - with Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey and Ty Burrell
Run-Time: 107 minutes
MPAA: Rated PG for some mild action


***Cameos include: James McAvoy, Tony Bennett, Lady GaGa, Hugh Bonneville, Jemaine Clement, Sean Combs, Rob Corddry, Celine Dion, Zack Galifianakis, Josh Groban, Salma Hayek, Tom Hiddleson, Tom Hollander, Toby Jones, Frank Langella, Ray Liotta, Ross Lynch, Chloe Grace Moretz, Usher Raymond, Miranda Richardson, Saoirse Ronan, Til Schweiger, Danny Trejo, Stanley Tucci and Christoph Waltz