Vladimir Rakhmanin
Staff Writer
Let’s get something out of the way first – I have had no experience with The Muppets prior to this film. Maybe it’s the fact that The Muppets never made it big in Russia, where I grew up; maybe it’s the fact that I was really into Sesame Street as a kid (fun fact – there actually is a Russian version of Sesame Street, with brand-new characters created specifically for the localised version). The fact remains, I went into the cinema with only a vague idea of what to expect.
The good news is that this is a bright and colourful musical that’s fun for not only old fans of the series, but for complete newcomers, as well. The Muppets is a reboot/sequel film to the insanely popular franchise, and is the first film to star the felt critters since The Muppets from Space (1999), and is written by Jason Segel of How I Met Your Mother fame. The plot is suitably wacky – it revolves around the Muppets attempting to raise $10 million in order to save their studio; if they fail, it will be destroyed in order to dig for the oil that resides underneath it.
The Muppets is blindingly clever in its use of meta-humour. The filmmakers are very aware of how long their franchise has been outside the media spotlight, and many of the film’s jokes are built around this fact. The studio where the original show was filmed, for example, is shown as being dusty and run down. Characters also break the fourth wall – when Kermit at first rejects the offer to form a reunion, Amy Adams’ character complains that if he doesn’t change his mind, then this will be a very short movie. These postmodern techniques show that the film is very aware that a lot of fans, at this point, have already become adults (in fact, when I went to see it, there weren’t that many children in the cinema).
And now for the songs. The Muppets is primarily a musical, and the melodies themselves are unbelievably catchy. It’s already been a couple of days since I’ve seen the film, and I’m still humming the leading song, Man or Muppet (if it doesn’t win an Oscar, it will be a disgrace to the Academy). I’m not kidding here. These tunes will make their way inside your head and never come out. And that’s a good thing, as they are all great – and surprisingly diverse. There is even a rap number in the mix. Even so, The Muppets can’t resist a sly dig at the musical format – after the first song, which involves a massive dance number, is over, all of the town’s citizens involved collapse in agony, considerably annoyed that they had to prance around the town square just because Jason Segel’s character felt like singing.
The cameos are also great fun. Some were to be expected, like Jack Black, who seems to be in absolutely everything; some are more surprising, like Jim Parsons, star of The Big Bang Theory. The funniest one, in my opinion, is by Selena Gomez, who, upon arriving at the theatre, says that she has no idea who the Muppets are, and is only at the event because her agent told her to be there. At one point during the film, I’m pretty sure I even saw Dave Grohl, singer/guitarist of the Foo Fighters…
The Muppets is a great film. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get some of the in-jokes for those familiar with Muppets franchise – I think there was quite a lot of them – but even without prior knowledge, I was able to enjoy this fun-filled meta-comedy. Highly recommended.
