What went wrong with Muppets from Space?

[frogboy4]

Frankly, as a Muppet fan, I have to agree with them.

I must concur. Miss Piggy and Fozzie aren't written with much depth or humor. Kermit is just given tasks without much personal motivation except his line about Gonzo being distinct - the best line of the film. Gonzo seems like Gonzo if he's taken a little NyQuil and where is Camilla in all this? Nobody asks that! The only character to be given a real opportunity to shine is Pepe and I think a lot of that comes from Bill's passion for the Muppets and the opportunity of this character to shine on the silver screen.

That's really the key here - the magic of the character interactions is largely missing. The main camaraderie is between Rizzo and Pepe and that is the most Muppety part of the whole picture! Kermit, Fozzie, Piggy and the rest of the gang seem to be out-of-touch with one another and that plays poorly.

Also, the film's opening sequence, until departing the house, was so well crafted. The rest looked rather cheap and slap-dash when compared to other Muppet films or specials that have beautiful sets and/or strategic location shooting. It just seems so sloppy.

This film seems bungled, second-guessed and man-handled into a bland facsimile of what it could have been. I can understand young people being enamored with the first Muppet film they've ever seen. I'm just glad mine was The Muppet Movie.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I can understand young people being enamored with the first Muppet film they've ever seen. I'm just glad mine was The Muppet Movie.

Hehehe, I know what you mean!

I'm not sure which was my first Muppet movie. It was definitely one of the original three. But I can't recall a moment of my childhood when I wasn't aware of all them. So it will likely always remain a mystery, lol.

 

[minor muppetz]

That's really the key here - the magic of the character interactions is largely missing.

Ironically, the VHS cover included a review quote that said "The magic is back!"

 

[Drtooth]

I must concur. Miss Piggy and Fozzie aren't written with much depth or humor. Kermit is just given tasks without much personal motivation except his line about Gonzo being distinct - the best line of the film. Gonzo seems like Gonzo if he's taken a little NyQuil and where is Camilla in all this? Nobody asks that! The only character to be given a real opportunity to shine is Pepe and I think a lot of that comes from Bill's passion for the Muppets and the opportunity of this character to shine on the silver screen.

The film really gave no one save Bobo the opportunity to shine. Though, we all know the separation of Gonzo and Camilla was sort of a choice, and it's been around since even before MCC. Now, I can't really blame anything on Gonzo due to the direction of the film... he was in a very depressed state for most of the movie. If I felt like him, I wouldn't want to eat a tire ether... but Gonzo completely changed since the 80's... they did sort of change him back. Character evolution is partly to blame.

Kermit... well, it takes a special person to write for Kermit... We haven't seen a film focus on him since MTM and not again until VMX. They made him a second banana in a strange situation (like basically everyone in Elmo in Grouchland), and gave him strange lines. Now, I take it Steve was still pretty uncomfortable as Kermit at the time... considering the diminished roles he had in MCC, MTI and MT, I still wonder where exactly he was at that point. But once VMX came, you know he found his voice for Kermit.

Fozzie... well, I love Fozzie. I love him a lot, but there was NO point in him being in the film. Again, it all points to the odd pacing and the fact that when they went on the rescue mission, each of them could have gotten lost and did some fun stuff... but they didn't. I swear, putting 3 Frank characters in one scene and he didn't play a single one made that whole segment feel awkward. Animal did nothing but run off biting Kathy Griffin's butt.

Also, the film's opening sequence, until departing the house, was so well crafted. The rest looked rather cheap and slap-dash when compared to other Muppet films or specials that have beautiful sets and/or strategic location shooting. It just seems so sloppy.

Hey... I think I get it now! They blew the budget on the opening. they must've. There'd be no excuse for that otherwise.

 

[Teheheman]

I dunno, I thought the movie was ok. The plot sounded like it was good. I mean, Gonzo tries to find where he came from. That being said I think the whole 'He's an alien' concept was kind of flawed when ya think about it. I mean, isn't the whole aura of Gonzo the fact that nobody knows WHAT he is? or WHERE he came from? I think they could've done that movie either without the whole 'alien' aspect, or they could've really told us but it was all a dream or something ya know?

Daniel

 

[Drtooth]

I'd hate "it was all a dream" more than Gonzo being an alien. That's usually a cheap cop out to get out of a corner writers get themselves into.

The script was labored and various people had to come in and write passes of it. That doesn't usually sound like a good thing (I'm sure there are cases). But I even feel the strange script could have been pulled off with a good director.

We didn't get one.

We got someone who really didn't know what the Muppets were about and had no theatrical experience before this. Someone who felt mundane tasks would make the characters more realistic, but rather made them dull, put them in dull situations, and he took the BEST parts out of the script... Uncle Matt's cameo and the REAL ending where the alien Gonzoids pulled off their fake masks to reveal they were just fans of Gonzo and they got transmissions of The Muppet Show. That ending would have kept Gonzo's identity ambiguous enough. Someone somewhere felt that was too complex. Overall, the studio and Henson treated it terribly, and it came out like that, so it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise.

 

[Teheheman]

I'd hate "it was all a dream" more than Gonzo being an alien. That's usually a cheap cop out to get out of a corner writers get themselves into.

The script was labored and various people had to come in and write passes of it. That doesn't usually sound like a good thing (I'm sure there are cases). But I even feel the strange script could have been pulled off with a good director.

We didn't get one.

We got someone who really didn't know what the Muppets were about and had no theatrical experience before this. Someone who felt mundane tasks would make the characters more realistic, but rather made them dull, put them in dull situations, and he took the BEST parts out of the script... Uncle Matt's cameo and the REAL ending where the alien Gonzoids pulled off their fake masks to reveal they were just fans of Gonzo and they got transmissions of The Muppet Show. That ending would have kept Gonzo's identity ambiguous enough. Someone somewhere felt that was too complex. Overall, the studio and Henson treated it terribly, and it came out like that, so it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise.

Honestly, I would've liked that ending more than them just saying 'Welp, he's an alien, answer your questions?' But that left even more questions like 'Do the Gonzoids have relationships with chickens where they're from?' and 'Are most of em daredevils?' I'm sure those questions were answered, it's been a while since I've seen the movie

Daniel

 

[Speed Tracer]

When I watch the movie, which isn't often, I still get choked up when Gonzo and Rizzo say goodbye. If nothing else, the movie is a great love letter to one of the strangest, and therefore most affecting, Muppet friendships. I know The Muppets isn't going to have much Rizzo, but soon, I want to see Gonzo and Rizzo together again. We've been fortunate and lucky to have had some really nice things happen since we lost Jim, but by far the best is that duo.

 

[Drtooth]

The Gonzo/Rizzo dynamic is a strange one. Rizzo rose to being a major cast member in the 80's after MTM, where he really begun to shine. Somehow, I don't think the two of them were ever going to be buddies until MCC came along, and they paired them together as the narrators.

That dynamic, as well as the Bobo/Jeffery Tambor dynamic was one of the things that was RIGHT with the movie. Heck, most of Rizzo's involvement of the movie was the more entertaining bit of the film. I LOVE the lab rat scene, and the part where Rizzo and Pepe con Gonzo into building a jacuzzi, okay?

Seems that they've since tried to get Rizzo and Pepe to be a comedic duo as well...

 

[Speed Tracer]

I like Pepe and Rizzo, but I think Pepe works more as a counter to the rest of the Muppets. He's considerably more focused on himself, hokay, than the rest of them are, and I think it makes him a little harder to write for. I can see why he's only got a bit to do in The Muppets. Pepe is a really good foil for the sort of cheerfulness we love the Muppets for. I still think Jim would have loved him.

I think the best way I could describe him, if you watch Parks and Rec, is the Tom Haverford to, say, Kermit's Leslie Knope.

I would LOVE to see Pepe and Bean together. But we haven't seen Bean in anything new since Muppet Christmas Carol, have we?

Oh, and to make this about Muppets From Space... I mean, none of us will ever forget "I will smack you like a bad, bad donkey, hokay."