Your Thoughts: "The Muppets" Theatrical Film

[12Medbe]

Wow, you put alot of thought into that!

 

[muppetlover123]

Hello fellow muppet central fans tonight I have just seen the muppets for the first time. 1 word AWESOME! Not gonna lie I only didn't like a few things here or there ill start with the dislikes.

DISLIKES: Short songs- Lets talk about me and both rainbow connections. Kind of made me mad about both rainbow connections were cut short
Me party- was kind of catchy at first but it just didnt seem right to fit in
Lots of scenes were cut sad day hopefully included on the dvd

LIKES: the muppet show theme recreation- loved it the monsters were amazing the ladies and men singing and then hobo joe singing the why dont you get things started line lol
we built this city montage- liked walter with fozzie and rats chickens and rowlf and just everything
WALTER period i love walter. hes so full of muppety goodness and just everything about him and his talent to whistle
Muppet stories- Fozzie Gonzo Animal and Piggy my favorite was fozzie execept that his rainbow connection was cut short
Rainbow connection- with kermit and piggy in it its good with all the muppets just good other then it cut short. i cryed during this
Uncle deadly- just love that he turns on tex and pushes him off the roof and he is just so cool
Pictures in my head- man that song is just so nice i loved when kermit did it teared up
The ending- muppets apperently get there theater back! not like in the junior novel
The references- sweetums chasing them like in the muppet movie, lots of muppet show clips, deadly and bobo singing together again lol and when kermit walks in the torn down theater beautiful moment
loved the musical numbers Smells like teen spirit and forget you rainbow connections man or muppet and evern lets talk about me
man or muppet- pure awesomeness
Rowlf and Scooter and all the obscure characters back in the spotlight!
And last the jokes were classic and fozzies fart shoes thing wasnt that bad.
Almost forgot manamana

In conclusion the music the puppetering and just everything was great! Thank you Jason Segal Nick Stroller and James Bobin for this amazing love letter to the world.

 

[beaker]

Wow...this was something else. Definitely a love letter, but not what I was expecting.This has very adult, smart writing in a lot of parts, thats for sure. I almost thought I was watching an adult independent drama at times. I really hope this resonates with a lot of people, as this new era will be fascinating. #1 thing I took away: in this ugly cynical world where the Muppets are percieved as something old and nostalgic, we need them more than ever.

I was quite thrilled that in my small little slice of suburbia, on thanksgiving eve no less, a bunch of people(families, parents with toddlers, college kids) came out to see it. It was a thrill hearing "4 for the muppets", "2 for the muppets" and so on. Noone I noticed was going to see Twilight or Happy Feet 2.

1. The Toy Story short "Small Fry" is BY FAR the most amazing Toy Story thing I have ever seen, period. I don't know what short people saw when they claim it wasnt that good...I thought it was a thousand times better than the depressing "Toy Story 3", and I thought it way outdid Hawaiian Vacation. I was laughing my butt off as each toy was introduced, just knowing what each one was spoofing. And personally relating to every reference and thing that happened. Amazing amazing amazing...actually Id say I liked it even more than the first Toy Story and almost as much as Toy Story 2(yes, I know its only a 5 minute short) Cant wait for more of these.

2. The film itself.

The Muppets 2011 is a very strange film experience, least it was for me. The opening scene will have you tear up in the way the opening prologue of Up had most human beings with emotions who saw it tearing up. In fact the opening, while it starts off kind of fun and playful quickly begins to take on a whole other surreal feeling. It's almost like, for us Muppet fans, too surreal...that moment when he pops in the vhs tape and you see old Muppet clips. It's by far the best moment of the film for me. There's something so wonderful, magical yet very sad. I felt like I was watching maybe a scene from an Aronofsky movie(in a good way)

This is going to sound insanely odd...but I left the film feeling VERY depressed. And this is a testament to why I love the cinema. Aside from the goofy fantastical random bits(which some I think should have been left out), the Muppets to me began to feel like a very sombre adult independent drama.

The entire premise of the film, the tone, etc depressed me(in a GOOD way) as it focuses so much on how the Muppets have been forgotten. How people laugh off the Muppets, think they're "old nostalgia kiddy stuff who died with Jim Henson". That chart in the network executive office with Rashida Jones sums up pretty much the last couple decades.

Now when the trailer says "This is their movie", they weren't kidding. Halfway through the film you're almost wondering where Gary and Mary went. It was beyond surreal to realize I was sitting in a large cineplex screen watching what for so much of my life had been this little secret...the Muppets(lets not kid ourselves) has largely been an underground fandom. So to see it on the screen, you almost have to pinch yourself. Also I was just in Reno, AND IT IS depressing as heck. Just funny being at some of the places they filmed recently.

Walter...my gosh this guy is a revelation, a watershed moment. You truly forget he's a puppet. He's just beyond amazing. I honestly could see a serious drama or indie dramaedy or some new york city rom com that just happens to have walter or kermit without it being a full muppet film. Thats a testament to these amazing performers we have. ALSO the numerous 80's homages were done nicely, such as the scenes of Piggy and Kermit in 80's style(I dug the 30's reporter bit at the end)

That scene when Kermit is leaving the theater at the end...it's a sad ending, but it makes sense. Not everything goes our way. I know in my own life there's been a lot of disappointments, but as Kermit laments...you have to have the strength to pick yourself up and look ahead. I really can envision a TRULY visionary Muppet film in the future that could be a real oscar contender. It was also very nice seeing so many large monsters so prominently. Sweetums, Thog and even Behemoth are all prominently featured, as with the Mutation guy. Heck Pokey from Mopatop/Muppets Take Over Today is even in the film, as is Droop.

3. My issues:The tone...a lot of this film feels like a serious independent dramedy, so its just kind of weird having these out of place surreal gags. I really disliked the "travel by map" gag. When you look at the first three films they're very much rooted in reality. This film takes place in the "reality" of A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, that kind of cartoonish anything can happen vibe. This isn't a "classic" muppet film at all, if we're talking tone or flow. Which again, isn't a bad thing.
What this film IS, is a reintroduction in the closest possible way to being a "modern" film while trojan horsing in a lot of the classic elements missing from the last two decades of Muppet movies: original song, heart, etc.

Also the ending...a lot of people might feel it was a cop out or tacked on. But maybe thats all Jason could think of. Was the ending satisfying? Nothing surprising happens, sure...but it shows how even when life fails you, there's a light to be had.

4. My worry wart side issues I worried about were mostly taken care of.
Walter isn't online despite being a hardcore fan, as he's a naive...old school.
He probably doesn't even have a computer. My worry the humans would eclipse went the other way...they were hardly even in it! Also the cinematography looked completely different on screen...it actually looked like a film. The trailers and clips seem to lack the final color mixing to give it a cinema look. The only concern I had that happened was the random jarring fantasy gags(not the dream sequences, those were all brilliant...but the stuff like the travel by map stuff)
It kind of took me out of what actually felt like a serious film

5. I think overall a lot of people if they give this a chance will be satisfied for different reasons. If youre a diehard Muppet fan, you'll tear up and be touched by the whole premise...so personal, so amazing. Kermit truly ends up being the heart of the film. I really want to watch that final speech he gives to the Muppets at the end before he goes outside.

But yeah, I'm finding it hard to really wrap my head around this movie...Ive been a film critic in a way for so long, having seen thousands of indie/foreign/drama/oddball movies so I noticed a lot of nods to all that. I think they shoulda spoofed Midnight in Paris in one of the trailers!

One more thing...the trailers DO NOT capture this movie AT ALL. That scene where the Muppets are walking around downtown LA during the day, amazing. Total shades of Muppets Take Manhattan and shoulda been in there. Id like to see a trailer cut to make it seem more like a serious film, as I feel ultimately thats the tone it has. Bobbin did a great job, and whoever his dp was.
But the film IS a mixed bag in my opinion...which isnt bad. It definitely stirred a lot of feelings of sadness, joy, heart and longing.

This world needs the Muppets more than ever...with all these horrible wars our governments get us into, with all the things these corporations do...with all the crime and inhumanity people do to eachother...with ALL the cynicism and jaded MEANNESS so many people eschew and are programmed by in popular entertainment...this movie is an arrow right to the heart of all that ugliness.

 

[muppetlover123]

sad thing was only 10 people other then me my friend and my brother were there

 

[CensoredAlso]

sad thing was only 10 people other then me my friend and my brother were there

Well remember it was the day before Thanksgiving.

 

[muppetlover123]

o yea lol well still

 

[dwmckim]

I loved it! I give it 5 stars! Frank Oz was wrong about the script not being good! No offense, Frank.

Well in all fairness the original script had a lot of major differences compared with final version (as they ALWAYS do regardless of who's writing them...i've seen scripts for each theatrical Muppet movie except MCC) and a lot of the elements i can easily see Frank having issue with got excised...but still i'm surprised Frank ... who DIRECTS films as his #1 hat these days...couldn't see past those parts. When i first read the script i knew it was from an outsider and that it would go through many drafts/revisions and passes through Muppet employees who would fix the obvious mistakes and made sure everything would work out the way it should...but the heart and makings of an awesome movie were always there. I'm really surprised Frank couldn't see it and how the film could easily end up after going through "the Process".

 

[beaker]

I wish i could post a long indepth review, but i took the bus to see the midnight debut and walked home for 3 1/2 hours (despite wearing a big sign on my back the entire time i was in the theatre and 1/3 of the way home before i got too afraid of being stopped by police saying "Need ride home (19th Ave & Cactus)" ) and i'm too tired, in pain, and cranky to really say anything except i really do. not. EVER! want to hear "Life's a Happy Song" ever again aside from repeat viewings of the movie itself (and even then i may fast forward or take that time to excuse myself to restroom or concession stand)

Actually what i will say is i would give the movie an A but the final edit a C- at best. This comes from having read original script, junior novelization and all the evidence of stuff that was indeed filmed but not in the final cut...lots of stuff should have been in there that wasn't INCLUDING CRUCIAL STORY/CHARACTER INFO. I would say much of the movie seemed like setups for punchlines without the actual payoffs included. Very disappointed in what the film should have been compared to how it ended up and i'd go so far as to say this was really unfinished. Right now my big wish is that this film gets the Royal Dvd treatment with a new extended edit of the film alongside a "theatrical cut" Again, the film itself was wonderful...but SO much wasted potential and knowing it could have been so much MORE.

And i also have to throw in...they made it TOO EASY for anyone wanting to jump on the Wrong Sounding Muppets train...there were some really JARRING moments where the there would be lines that were just awful...i mean there were a couple Fozzie lines in a car scene where i thought there was something wrong with the film itself...he sounded like he was inexplicably on helium...those really should have been redubbed. Mind you, i'm the biggest advocate of recasts and the amazing job they typically do...and this is why it's all the more disappointing when moments like that slip through because you KNOW they can do so much better and it should have been easily fixed.

i'm sure i'll post a much longer review after a couple days after i've rested/recooperated.

My mom and I had to walk several miles in the cold, with groceries none the less, so I can sympathize. (my mom came to visit me, but were both too poor to have a car) I agree in that the film is NOT what I was expecting at all...but for me it was not a letdown but a whole different animal all together(no fun intended)
The only issue with Fozzie is Puppet Heap is smoking crack using shiny plush fur, he looked so good until recently. The reason his voice is off in that car scene is probably the strain of performing. A little post adr coulda fixed it. I record my vocals for my songs and animation, and sometimes my voice cracks up and I can't always hit the notes and replicate the same sound everytime. This happens to me a lot when I perform on stage.

You're right about the pacing issue. The pacing feels way off...I dont know if its because they needed to speed things along, but this NEEDED to be 2 hours.

Im so glad you got to see it! Dont worry Im tired, my feet hurt, etc too!

 

[CensoredAlso]

o yea lol well still

No I get you, lol. It's just that for instance my friend and I are big Muppet fans but we knew there was no way we were going to be able to see it the day before Thanksgiving, you just get so busy preparing for tomorrow.

 

[12Medbe]

There were also times where Kermit was actually mean in the original scripts (hence the Kermit/Piggy MTM marriage fallout in the book and subtle references in the movie), until muppet employees pointed out that Kermit is never mean.