Revived from a seemingly perennial slumber, not by profiteers, but men and women with a genuine affection for what these iconic characters meant to a generation of children, The Muppets are back with a vengeance. Thanks to Jason Segel, leading the way as both performer and co-writer with his Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) director, Nicholas Stoller, a new generation will now be able to forge a new bond with Kermit, Fozzy, Miss Piggy and company.
The set-up is simple but ingenious a small town man (Jason Segel) engaged in a lengthy courtship decides to take his girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) to California for meaningful together time. Trouble is he feels guilty leaving behind the ADbrother, Walter (Peter Linz), he’s been joined at the hip to since birth. Walter is actually a muppet though neither he nor anyone else seems to have recognised this fact. Risking Mary’s scorn, Gary decides to take Walter along with the promise of a nostalgic visit to the home of the old ‘Muppet Show’ where Gary’s heroes once worked their magic.
But upon arrival they uncover a diabolical plot to overtake the site of the Muppets’ spiritual home by a ruthless businessman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper). In turn they hatch a plan of their own to ensure it stays in Muppet hands. Before you know it Kermit himself is asked to lead a colourful round-up of his old buddies. To save the old place they must put on one last show to raise sufficient funds to keep it alive.
The plot itself has a ring of familiarity, but who cares? It’s a perfect vehicle for showering a multitude of forgiving fans, like myself, with remembrances of what these cloth and felt creatures meant to our childhoods. Though littered with funny lines and equally funny songs, Segel and Stoller’s screenplay performs most meritoriously in re-establishing the eternal magic these Jim Henson creations have already possessed. The names alone conjure flashbacks to everything the Muppets name encompasses from the rousing opening song, to the raft of recurring skits, the eccentric characters and, at the heart of it all, the strange, unlikely and volatile romantic entanglement of a frog and a pig.
The heartfelt affection that rises to the surface as the resolution is reached is anything but insincere. You’d need a rock in place of a heart to resist revelling in the wistful delight of hearing these guys, led by Kermit, break out into ‘The Rainbow Connection’, whilst hearing the Muppets Barbershop Quartet surrender to an offbeat, unexpected Nirvana interpretation is one of many moments begging the question did I just see that? Chris Cooper breaking out into rap is another.
The dubious past excursions into film are forgotten, and if they ever needed to be, forgiven. There’s a little bit of Gary and Walter in us all, I suspect, pleading the heavens for an answer to a question that may have haunted you too: What are we really? A ‘Man or Muppet’?
I say:
It’s time to play the music
See it for:
The characters, large and small, that bring childhood flooding back – and leave you on the verge of a slightly embarrassing tear or three before the end credits roll and the annoyingly catchy ‘Life’s a Happy Song’ is reprised
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