We're Doing a Sequel
That's what we do
in Hollywood
and everybody knows
the sequel's never quite as
good
So
go the lyrics to the number that starts Muppets Most Wanted,
and it astutely sums up its own product.
This direct sequel, which starts right after the very end of 2011's
The Muppets, is a step down from
the loose-hanging delights of its predecessor, but delivers enough
entertainment for the fans to justify a return engagement at the movie
theater. Unfortunately, it's not likely to gain any new fans,
and some longtime fans may gripe that it regurgitates an already used
heist plot similar to their own The Great Muppet Caper from 1981.
The plot involves the Muppets crew becoming part of a grand scheme
perpetrated by the 'world's most dangerous frog', a Russian-accented
amphibian named Constantine, whose facial mole is the only
differentiating trait (other than his voice) from Kermit the Frog.
His 'number two' guy, the auspiciously named Dominic Badguy (Gervais,
The Invention of Lying), gets
in the Muppets' good graces as their new manager for his suggestion of
an upcoming European tour, then identities (and moles) are swapped,
such that Kermit is sent to a Siberian gulag while Constantine now
runs the Muppet Show. Constantine's plan: to use the roving show
to go on a world tour in which robberies are committed, culminating in
the grand finale involving the illegal acquisition of priceless
artwork and crown jewels housed in the Tower of London.
Unlike its predecessor, or 1979's The Muppet Movie,
Muppets Most Wanted is a step down primarily because it lacks the
more heartfelt elements that make a Muppet movie so thoroughly
enjoyable underneath the sporadic gags. Directed and co-written
by The Muppets' James Bobin, the emphasis here is
more toward trying to amuse, which it does in a hit-and-miss fashion,
as well as try to shoehorn in as many celebrity cameos as it can,
which has become a Muppet movie staple since its inception.
The makers of this film know that these films have a bit of a box
office ceiling, in that the Muppets, while popular in the United
States, don't fare quite as well at the worldwide box office.
The entire Europe-hopping plot seems to be contrived in order to have
little moments to help sell the film to European markets like England,
Ireland, Germany, Spain, and France. The international cast also
follows suit with the locales in order to reach beyond normal markets
and hope attention gets paid from corners of the world unfamiliar (or
uninterested) in Jim Henson's most popular creations.
Of the human actors, Gervais and Fey (Baby
Mama), who plays the warden of the gulag Kermit is holed up
in, get the most screen time, and they do a decent enough job in their
cartoonish (but fun) roles to elevate the material, though being a
Muppet film, they're usually (and appropriately) upstaged by the real
stars of the show.
The funniest of the material comes through the musical numbers by the
returning Bret McKenzie, and while none suggest a repeat at the Oscars
for Best Song like The Muppets' "Man or Muppet", most of the
ditties here kick up the momentum whenever the rudimentary plot
threatens to drag the tone down to tedium. Following the
aforementioned, "We're Doing a Sequel", there is a hilarious ditty
entitle "I'm Number One", about how much better it is to be the man in
charge and not the 'number two' henchman.
While 2011's The Muppets shared an equally tired plot ("Let's
get the band back together"), it benefited from being able to put on
"The Muppet Show" for its big finale once all of the pieces were put
into place. Muppets Most Wanted's overused plot is the
typical heist film, which is too familiar to be thrilled by, and
worse, it means the final half hour is going to deal with whether or
not Constantine is able to pull of his scheme. There's no one
who will come away from this film thinking the best parts stem from
its story, and no one will be sitting on the edge of their seat
because of the plot, so why not try a fresh approach?
Muppets Most Wanted delivers enough right notes at the right
times in order to justify time spent for fans of these characters, but
it does sputter and drag more than it really should, and if it manages
to get to the finish line with everyone still on board, it's only
because our beloved characters have to push the vehicle several times
with a musical number. Hopefully for their encore, the creators
will figure out a better way to give is all of the snark, zaniness,
and tongue-in-cheek references we want, without having to shoehorn
several dozen characters into yet another formula plot barely worth
following. More Muppets Wanted.
Qwipster's rating:
©2014 Vince Leo
