Never has a family movie touched me in the same way that 'The Muppets' has. It felt literally like a trip back in time to my childhood, where I used to watch recordings of 'The Muppets Treasure Island' on our VHS player and was part of those sweet innocent 'Disney' years. Because this movie is aimed at people exactly like me (the nostalgia riddled geek) I was of course swept away by this film. However there is enough heart, catchy songs and that special brand of Muppet humour on display here to enrapture any viewer. The Muppets you see, don't live in our world. They live in Disneyworld. Not disneyworld as in, the theme park, it's the sense that you're living in a world full of happiness, joy laughter ect... This sort of simple, innocent (no adult jokes) almost whimsical approach makes The Muppets one of the best feel-good movies ever, right up there next to It's A Wonderful Life. I'm not kidding, I've watched this sucker three times by now and can't get enough of it. There is just something about these characters that really resonates with me.
Anyway weird nostalgia trip aside, what exactly makes this movie fun again? Well while the plot feels very tertiary and simplified (it's the classic, 'Let's all get the old gang back together and host a telethon to save the Muppet studios!') it succeeds because it plays to what has always been the Muppet's core strength, and that's entertainment. It embraces the song and dance numbers open heartedly, but acknowledges it as being very tongue-in-cheek and refreshing at the same time. The songs are all very catchy and you won't be forgetting them any time soon, 'Life's a happy Song' is especially memorable and you'll be miming the words in your head for day afterwards. The second best thing this movie has going for it is the introduction of a new muppet Walter, who is (somehow) the brother of Gary, the films human protagonist. He is simply adorable to watch and you really start rooting for him at the end. I hope he stays as a regular in the future, he's probably my favourite muppet now actually. The humans of the film, Gary and Mary are the classic disney couple stereotype, but the actor's performances (Jason Segel and Amy Adams respectively) coupled with a truly fantastic song ('Am I a Man or a Muppet?') makes them feel like so much more. The constant breaking of the fourth wall is the film's clever way of saying 'just go with it, don't take any of this seriously' and as such whenever the characters act overly disney (trademark) the audience never feels alienated. If anything, the charm of this movie stems from that the fact that it harkens back to the films of our childhood, which were full of whimsical escapism and exuded innocent happiness, nowadays you've got those lazy cynicism fuelled Shrek sequels and *SHUDDERS* that horrible Smurfs movie a few years back that are essentially just entire movies filled with pop culture references.
No, The Muppets feels like a pure, honest-to-goodness family film, and it deserves every ounce of praise it can get. I can also say (with no shame whatsoever) that The Muppets brought me close to tears on several occasions. Yes that's right, a felt-laden frog with ping-pong balls for eyes made me shed a tear, I'LL ADMIT IT. You can't help but get invested into these characters, especially after the several rousing speeches made by Kermit every 5 minutes. He was handing out moral guidance by the buckload: 'Thanks to Walter here, we tried. and if we failed, we failed together and to me, that's not failing at all' had us all fetching buckets to catch our tears.
Watching the Muppets for me ignites feelings of nostalgia happiness and most importantly my love for the Muppets. It feels like the ultimate family movie, and triumphs in many area's. I don't care how old you are, go see this movie, NOW. You won't regret it. Oh, how I have missed the Muppets. 10/10.
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