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• Currently 4/5 Stars.

Movies.ie Critic Review

THE MUPPETS (USA/G/109mins)

Directed by James Bobin. Starring Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones, voices of Steve Whitmore, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz.

THE PLOT: Gary (Segel) and Walter (voiced by Avenue Q’s Peter Linz) are just your average Smalltown brothers – barring the fact the former is a big lug of a lad and the latter is, well, a muppet. Funnily enough, Walter grows up obsessed with The Muppets, and when Gary and ever-patient fiancée Mary (Adams) head off on the greyhound bus to LA for a holiday, Walter jumps at the chance of joining them. So he can visit the legendary Muppet Theatre. Only, it’s fallen into disrepair. And when Walter overhears evil oil baron Tex Richman (Cooper) plans to level it all, he convinces Gary and Mary to join him in reuniting the Muppets for a fundraising show to save the theatre…

THE VERDICT: The first big-screen outing for Jim Henson’s much-loved comic creations in 12 years, Disney unleashed a marketing tsunami to ensure that The Muppets opened strongly last December in the US. And it worked, this new Muppet big-screen outing already proving the most successful ever.

Longtime Muppet fan Jason Segel convinced Disney in 2007 that he was the man to rejuvenate the once-towering brand (at its height during the late 1970s, the TV series The Muppet Show hit a worldwide audience of 235million), and here, he and co-screenwriter Nicolas Stoller (who directed Forgetting Sarah Marshall) employ the old plot device of getting the old band back together to save the day. With Flight Of The Conchords’ regular director James Bobin behind the camera (and Bret McKenzie on board as musical supervisor), the tone is both tongue-in-cheek and a kiss on the cheek. From the start, Segel wanted to be reverent to The Muppets’ sweet-natured irreverence, and so, as with their much-loved TV series, you get cameos from the likes of Feist and Sarah Silverman alongside old family favourites such as Mickey Rooney and Willie Nelson. And seeing Dave Grohl as a substitute Animal in a low-rent tribute band is pretty hard to resist. If not quite the charmer it could have been (Segel should never be allowed closer than 15 feet to a camera), it’s still good to have the Muppets back. RATING: 4/5

Review by Paul Byrne 

• Avg User rating
• Currently 3/5 Stars.

User Reviews

• • Currently 3/5 Stars.

  gavinjc

  

• • Currently 2/5 Stars.

  Marty hanratty

  

  As a movie that is intended to be about the Muppets, this film seemed overly concerned with it's human characters. While that approach works in movies like Muppet Treasure Island, this movie is an attempt to pander to fans of the old Muppet TV show, and therefore renders the human plot unnecessary. The Muppet humor is done quite well, and I expect fans of the show or the movies will be pleased with it, however there isn't nearly enough of it and it takes about twenty minutes of the film to even get to the first real bit of it. The new Muppet, Walter, is pretty pathetic (he looks like a Sesame Street reject, and acts about the same), and the movie's "villain" is even worse (he raps, and he's bad at it). The overall plot is extremely predictable, and the human actors seem like they're just reading lines. Final verdict: There are 50 minutes of good old fashioned Muppet laughs here, but you have to get through 50 minutes of mediocre (at best) filmmaking to get to the good stuff.

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  1conor

  

• • Currently 3/5 Stars.

  noel2008

  

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  ssconnolly

  

  This new addition to the Muppets franchise tells the story of brothers Walter and Gary, one a Muppet and the other a man (try work that out). Gary is planning to settle down with his longtime girlfriend Mary but his close relationship with Walter is starting to come between the partners. Meanwhile Walter has lived his life as a Muppet in a world of men and feels alone. When Walter overhears oil tycoon Tex Richman's evil plan to destroy the old Muppet studio and drill for oil the brothers go on a mission to find the Muppets and save the old studio. From the moment I heard that the Muppets were to be brought back to our screens in a new adaptation I was initially skeptical. However my reservations were short lived as the film went on to acquire a dream team to bring it back to the big screen. Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords fame was brought on board to create the music, while the brilliant Jason Segel was given the daunting task of writing the script. And with an amazing array of stars coming in for various roles and cameos it was soon becoming obvious that The Muppets was going to be something special. The Muppets is the 12th film to feature the iconic characters and it has instantly gone down as one of the best. It's not perfect, but it has achieved what it set out to superbly. The purpose of this film was to reintroduce the Muppets to the world, and to a new generation of filmgoers. Some complained the new film wasn't quite 'Muppety' enough, but the point of the film was to bring them back and set up potential sequels. Well this film has set things up very nicely for a series of sequels, of which plans for are already going ahead. I think a lot of the praise needs to be given to the films star and writer Jason Segel. He was the absolute perfect man to write this script. A life long fan of the Muppets, and of course the writer of the vampire puppet musical which he incorporated into his script for Forgetting Sarah Marshall if there was anyone in this world who was born to write this then it was Segel. And he did so wonderfully, striking a flawless mix between the kind of tongue-in-cheek and cheesy pun jokes the Muppets are known for and a more modern kind of comedy that keeps things accessible for those who aren't familiar with the Muppets. He writes for these characters like he was the one who created them and that is a remarkable feat. So all in all The Muppets is the hugely enjoyable and heartwarming film everyone expected it to be. The music by Bret McKenzie is wonderful and one of the few deserving winner of an Oscar this year. The only problem I had with the film was that in trying to introduce new Muppet Walter some of the most famous and lovable Muppets rarely get a look in, such as Scooter and Dr.Bunsen. Still it wasn't nearly enough to spoil the film and all in all The Muppets was massively impressive. Funny, touching and entertaining, it was everything one would expect from a Muppets film and more. The nostalgia alone would be enough to keep old fans happy, but the film is good enough to make new audiences fall in love with The Muppets.

• • Currently 2/5 Stars.

  Onionhead

  

  The film's broad smiles and big-heartedness are bracingly disingenuous, the self-referential jokes well handled. Only the affection emanating from the audience is sincere.

• • Currently 5/5 Stars.

  ging-grr

  

  This is definitely a trip down nostalgia lane. It brought me right back to my childhood. Jason Segal was the perfect candidate to take the reigns of this movie as he is obviously a huge Muppet fan. It is a muppet movie for muppet fans. I highly recommend this movie as one the best feelgood movies I have seen in a long time.

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  barber05

  

  So so funny, love the muppets. Animal is the best.

• • Currently 5/5 Stars.

  Rawbee

  

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  jony_dols

  

  Don't go into the first Muppets film in 12 years, expecting a dark & gritty reboot. You won't see Kermit doing lines of coke off Ms Piggy's rump, however this movie more than makes up for it, by treating you to a spectacularly enjoyable Muppetastic trip back to more innocent comedic times! The jokes are spot-on, the musical numbers are clever, the cameos are hilarious & the stars of the show never disappoint. You would have to be the spawn of Lucifer to not enjoy this one!

• • Currently 5/5 Stars.

  WildRose86

  

  Absolutely lovely!! Great story, great acting, great singing and dancing. If it doesn't bring a smile to your face, you have no soul!!

• • Currently 3/5 Stars.

  TheAngelicDiablo

  

  Despite the being handicapped by a predictable premise, The Muppets really shine in their motion picture comeback. Balancing charm and pure gusto with call backs to their previous escapades, the formula proves to be a treat to everyone big and small.

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  masonica

  

  The difference that a film being developed by someone who love's the characters as opposed to it just being "product" is massive in this film. Full of heart, packed with laughs and loaded with songs that don't make you feel ill. A joyous film that is the embodiment of a "feel good" movie.

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  Hadouken65

  

  Seriously great movie! So much fun and an incredible nostalgia trip!

• • Currently 4/5 Stars.

  Doomofman

  

  It's a nice feel good film. I was never much of a Muppets fan but I enjoy the movie. The songs were catchy and it had plenty of laugh out loud moments.

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