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Movie Reviews

Movie Review – Muppets Most Wanted

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Everyone’s favourite childhood friends are back for another adventure on the big screen. Following on from The Muppets in 2011, director James Bobin returns for another caper filed with all the wit, charm and infectious musical numbers we have come to expect from Kermit & Co.

This musical send-up of 1960s whodunnits and spy thrillers picks up where The Muppets ends, at the finale of their rousing song-and-dance routine that celebrated their comeback. While Segel and Amy Adams are noticeably absent for part 2, star of the last movie Walter (again played by Peter Linz) maintains his prominence in the story as the gang contemplate their next career move.

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The obvious answer is to make another film, as the Muppets launch into We’re Doing a Sequel, one of many songs that will have you bobbing your head in time with the beat before the curtain closes.

The sequel sees all your favourites going on a world tour, an idea thrown their way by newly hired talent agent, Dominic Badguy (pronounced “Bad-Gee” in French and played with zeal by Ricky Gervais), who is secretly plotting with his partner in crime, Constantine (Matt Vogel), a recently escaped prisoner of a Siberian gulag and who happens to look almost identical to Kermit. The criminal pair are plotting to steal art works from major European museums that hold hidden clues to an even bigger treasure.

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Muppets Most Wanted boasts a wealth of celebrity cameos, and familiar faces keep popping up to squeeze in the gags, but the stars of the show are The Muppets themselves. Whether it’s the sensitive Walter, the high-spirited Fozzie Bear, pun-loving critics Statler and Waldorf and an especially feisty Miss Piggy, the troupe are all joyous creations with every bit, if not more of, the charisma of the human actors. The switch-a-roo between Kermit and Constantine paves the way for some great fun with the long established relationship between our hero and Miss Piggy and bring the comic talent of Tina Fey into the mix.

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Where Muppets Most Wanted takes a nose dive then is with the delirious Gervais. It’s just so hard to warm to him in the movie and he takes on the role with perhaps too much enthusiasm, and maybe losing site of the fact that the movie is aimed at kids. His creepy villain is the weak link that keeps the movie from really lifting off.

Muppets Most Wanted never reaches the giddy heights of it’s predecessor but its still a wonderful family movie, full of personality and warmth, that reminds us for all the advancements in CGI and 3D in the last few years, sometimes it’s the simplest of creations that entertain and enthral the most.

(Images courtesy IMDb, Collider, Tumblr)

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