The Muppets Staff Review
Those adorable, crazy Muppets from the late Jim Henson are back on the silver screen this November with their latest film simply entitled, The Muppets.
The story plot is simple and follows closely to real life. The ever-changing world has left the Muppets as just a memory and not relevant to modern day society. The Muppets have moved on to have normal jobs instead of hosting the Muppet Show and pretty much have given up on their old lives. To top it all off, the rich, Texas oil tycoon, Tex Richman (Chris Cooper, Bourne Identity, American Beauty), has plans to tear down the old Muppet Studios in the search of oil.
Along comes Muppet newcomer, Walter, his brother Gary (Jason Segel, Forgetting Sarah Marshall I Love You, Man), and Gary's girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams, Enchanted, The Fighter). During the visit the decrepit Muppet Studio vows to help Kermit and friends save the Muppets and everything they worked for in years past.
The film itself is simply amazing; writers Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, along with Director, James Bobin knew exactly what was needed to bring the Muppets back into modern society, and they achieved their goals to the fullest extent possible. The dialogue is witty, the timing of the jokes is dead on, the length of the musical numbers is just right; however, at one point, I felt I was watching the Buffy The Vampire Slayer Once More With Feeling episode rather than the Muppets -- and the story hit the right amount of nostalgia and modern-day references required to jump start the franchise again.
As with most Muppet films, the soundtrack plays an integral part of the story; and just as with the script and acting, this soundtrack hits all of the right marks. The film uses classic Muppet tunes, such as "The Rainbow Connection" and "Mah Na Mah Na", as well as great new ones, such as "Man or Muppet".
Even with all of the marketing behind-the-scenes, Disney has been touting the new Muppet film as "do-or-die" time for the franchise and even going as far as saying it might sell the rights to the franchise. However, this film most certainly proves the Muppets might have been forgotten, but they will always be there when you need them.
--Nathan M Rose
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