ironhorse_iv Review of Muppets Most Wanted

Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

The Muppet movie, I didn't wanted. It wasn't that good. Still, it was alright.

[6/10 · 10 April 2014]

This movie wasn't that funny. It had a lot of old jokes that remind me of funnier oldest films that did the gags a lot better. First off, I have to say, I don't hate the film; I just feel disappointed with the results. After all, it's coming off of 2011's Muppet Movie that had a lot of heart, put into it. That film is one of the better films in the series, but this movie is really, really not good. Directed by James Bobin, the movie acts like a sequel to the last movie, as the comeback was such a success that it allow Kermit the Frog (voice by Steve Whitmire) and the Muppet Show gang to do a European tour. On the way, Kermit get kidnap and mistaken for Constantine (voice by Matt Vogel), the world's most evil frog. There is a theory that says that Constantine is the Black Sheep of Kermit's family and probably Robin's estranged dad. We don't know who Robin's parents are, and Constantine's resemblance was uncanny, except for the mole. Anyways, Kermit is sent to a Soviet prison control by a ruthless warden Nadya (Tina Fey); while the real Constantine took Kermit's place in the tour with his henchman Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) acting as their manager. Little do the Muppets know, that the two criminals are using the tour to steal Europe's most prize Jewels. I have to say, this plot isn't even new to the Muppets. The movie seems a rehash, recycle or reboot of 1981's The Great Muppet Caper. The movie has even the balls to show us, better Muppet's movies in the movie. The movie does have pop cultural references gags that might remind people of 1996's Mission: Impossible, 1994's Shawshank Redemption, 1971's The Waltons and others. My favorite is the gulag audition montage is "I Hope I Get It" from 1985's A Chorus Line. It's seem like a lot of things in the film are taken from better comedy films. The character of Jean Pierre Napoleon (Ty Barrell) is a lousy rip-off of Inspector Jacques Clouseau from the Pink Panthers series. I also found it weird that Constantine sounds like 2005's Borat. The whole evil twin idea has a lot of scenes that remind me of 1940's Great Dictator and 1933's Duck Soap. This is not the first time Kermit did a mirror routine with a doppelgänger. He also did this with a wind-up mechanical version of himself in the Ruth Buzzi episode of The Muppet Show. That joke is really tiresome. If you going to do old jokes, at less, do something new to it as to play homage, so it's doesn't felt like the film is stealing the joke. The jokes were pretty hit and miss, depending if you find meta, break the fourth wall humor, funny. I like meta humor, but a lot of the material here are not that funny. I find nothing funny about the Gulag scenes. I have a sense of humor, but gees. I don't think, the Gulag was the best thing to put in a kid movie. First off, Russia isn't the Soviet anymore. So, I kinda find the Gulag thing outdate and kinda offended. In Stalin's Gulag 1.6 million died there from 1934 to 1953. It's like making a movie where the cast of Sesame Street is in Nazi Germany concentration camp. It just doesn't sound good. I kinda disappointed at Ricky Gervais, as the movie doesn't give him any funny moments. I guess, they didn't want him to anger people like the Emmys. He was playing it too safe in this film. He plays second banana to a sock puppet, most of screen time. I think the only person that I found funny in this movie is Sam the Eagle's role as a CIA agent. There is a lot of celeb cameos in this film ranging from singers like Usher, Tony Berrett, and Lady Gaga to famous actors like Christoph Waltz, Danny Trejo and others. Without spoiling it all the stars, I did find Tom Hiddleston as the funniest of these celebs cameos. I didn't mind the Product Placement like Subway and UPS as it help with the plot. Now to the music. I found the musical part, alright. "I'm Number One" and "I'll Get What Your Want" are really good. It makes sense, because in addition to being a Muppet performer, Matt Vogel is also a musician, and even had his own band. "Something So Right", complete with a Céline Dion cameo was a little too much of a cheesy ballad. My favorite is the "Interrogation Song." The worst is 'We're doing a Sequel' has the lyrics that pretty much explain, why this movie is here, and why isn't that good. I guess, this movie was originally going to be called "The Muppets Again"? Looks like they finished the song before changing the title. The movie even makes a new version of "Together Again," from 1984's Muppet Take Manhattan. Since Jason Segel is completely unaffiliated with this movie, the film is missing a lot of its heart. The 2011's movie was chiefly concerned about how the Muppets felt they weren't relevant and that no one cared about them anymore and how much they were special to everybody childhood. Here in this movie, I really don't get what the movie is trying to put out as a message. Here they launch a comeback world tour that seems successful until it's revealed that their "audiences" to come see their shows and newspapers to post rave reviews were fake. If you going to make fun of how much your movie is going to suck, a lot of people are going to start to look at it, and say, 'yeah, when I think about it, it's wasn't good'. It's probably one of the reasons, why this movie didn't do so good in the box office. At less, the movie made the credits entertaining.