Muppets Most Wanted, English hollywood Film Movie Review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: * * 1/2
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English Film review
Johnson Thomas
Film: Muppets Most Wanted
Cast: Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, Tina Fey, Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, Christoph Waltz, Ray Liotta,Tom Hiddleston, Debby Ryan, Danny Trejo, Frank Langella,Ross Lynch, Sean Combs
Rating: * * ½
Synopsis:The Muppets return in this Euro-set adventure that
pits them against the dastardly Constantine, a dead ringer for Kermit who
sparks a fun-filled caper for the gang. Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, and Ty Burrell
head up the human cast, with James Bobin from a script he wrote with Nicholas
Stoller
Review
This
is a transcontinental caper that is quite simply shameless about it’s attempt
to cash in on the success of the first. It even has a song that blares out that
irreverence, “We’re doing a sequel” is it’s opening song which acknowledges the
inferiority of most follow-ups. This latest chapter picks up precisely where the last one left
off, down to featuring stand-ins for the backs of Amy Adams and Jason Segel, who have not returned. Newcomer Walter
(voiced by Peter Linz) sings the opening number.
This
is the eighth outing for Jim Henson’s creations but it’s not anywhere close to
achieving the playfulness and fun of the earlier (most recent) one. The sheer
fun and engagement of that outinf obviously will not be matched at the
box-office either. It’s typically Disney- engaging but not altogether
entertaining.
Returning director James Bobin,
wrote the screenplay with returning co- scenarist
Nicholas Stoller, but Jason Segel and Amy Adams contribution to all that fun is
sorely missed. “Muppets Most Wanted”
looks and sounds eager to please but the
feel is like a heavy-duty effort to turn its stalled creativity into
some sort of self-referential joke
Although they’re newly
rebanded and apparently more popular than ever, Kermit and friends have no idea
what their next move(movie) should be, but after quickly brainstorming ideas (“Gonzo With the Wind” is quickly
rejected), they decide to embark on a lavish world tour.
Manager Dominic Badguy pronounced “Badjee”(Ricky
Gervais), takes iver the entourage completely and only cautious, responsible Kermit
has the prudence to object to renting
out the largest theater in Berlin for their opening-night performance. But the
other Muppets increasingly side with Dominic over their frog leader, who’s
already stressed out enough by Miss Piggy’s plan to use the tour as a backdrop
for their lavish wedding and honeymoon (none of which, of course, Kermit has
even agreed to yet). The difficulty is obvious. Throw in a doppelganger and it
becomes doubly complicated. Dominic has Kermit
suddenly kidnapped and
thrown into a Siberian gulag, where he finds himself at the mercy of several
dozen Russian crooks and Nadja (Tina Fey), a stern but Broadway-obsessed prison guard who harbors a not-so-secret crush on her
newest charge. While, in a “Great Dictator”-esque twist, diabolical doppelganger, Constantine, “the
world’s most dangerous frog,” takes over the tour as Kermit. Naturally, as they wind their way across
Europe by train, it takes the Muppets (save for the ever-perceptive Animal)
almost the entire film to realize that there’s an evil, English-mangling master
thief in their midst, and that Dominic has been using the gang’s musical gigs
as cover for an elaborate series of heists, each one bringing them a step
closer to the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.
The script is quite adept and knowing in it’s barrage of gags
and plot. Everything here appears to have been predicated on a
general assumption of the Muppets’ appeal. Blink-and-you-miss- star turns( by Ray
Liotta, Celine Dion, Christoph Waltz, James
McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston, Saoirse Ronan and Chloe Grace Moretz) don’t generate
any extra interest here. The randomized spitting out of musical sequences and movie references
(everything from “A Chorus Line” to “Lawrence of Arabia” to “The Silence of the
Lambs”) is also a little too oddball to
keep the entertainment flowing. The human element, specifically an
understanding of how the human actors are meant to interact with their
soft-fabric co-stars is also quite distinctively missing. So have fun for as
short a time it lasts!
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