Your Thoughts: "The Muppets" Theatrical Film

[GuySmileyfan]

I saw it with my friends today, and we love it! And Rowlf is in it. He is so cute and cuddly. And he has a few lines, which is not that bad. Better than Muppets From Space. Disney, you successfully brought back the Muppets. YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

 

[Whatnot1988]

Disney really did pull out all the stops for this film. How many Muppets did you count? I counted around 100-125.

 

[beaker]

I was wearing my Kermit Mosaic shirt at the big local electronic store, and one of the workers asked if I had seen the film and that her friends were racing about it. Then the girl who rang me up was saying how much she loved the shirt, loved the film but was sad Rizzo and Pepe werent in it and that she misses the Gonzo/Rizzo dynamic.

So perhaps Muppet love isnt as underground as I had thought. I saw a number of people young to middle aged wearing muppet stuff(tho mostly animal)

 

[CensoredAlso]

OK....::: pant, pant:: I've seen the movie. But...:: pant, pant:: I had to go to TWO auditions immediately after. And I've just now gotten home. So...:: pants:: I think the review will have to wait til tomorrow. ::collapses::

 

[12Medbe]

Gonna try getting my grandparents to go with me to see it on Monday. Will be my second viewing. Gramps isn't too thrilled about the idea of seeing the Muppets for some reason, don't know why! Wonder how I'll convince him. *Ponders recreating the kidnapping Jack Black scene. XD*

 

[charlietheowl]

Know I'm super late here, but I finally saw the movie tonight- I was waiting until I got back up to school to go with some friends who indulge my love of the muppets. I was really excited to go, and the movie did not let me down. I thought that the movie was really true to what (I think at least) is the spirit of the muppets. When Kermit talks to all the muppets at the end of the telethon about how even though they failed they are still a family, that instantly brought back memories of the climax of the original muppet movie, which is about a big a compliment as you can give. The whole togetherness aspect is what I really think the muppets are about in the end- the fact that no matter how out of place you may feel in the world, there will always be somebody who appreciates you, someone who will look for that rainbow connection with you. That's why I think the character of Walter worked because he was somebody who didn't really fit in and found his "rainbow connection" essentially at the end of the movie.

I also thought the movie was great because of all the little parts jammed into it. I loved the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" sequence because that was such a random choice for a song to sing, and Sam really gave his all with that number. The chickens stole the show in the telethon (the theater went nuts during that part), and I loved Rowlf's little flashback scene in the car. But the part that really took the cake in regards to how much of a muppet geek I am was when Wayne and Wanda were kissing after the lights went back in the studio. I mean, Wayne and Wanda? You know that Jason Segal and everyone else are hardcore fans to give them a scene-stealing joke like that. Amazing.

All in all, I thought it was great and I really hope this leads to some more projects (a new TV show maybe? or at least a special?) for our muppet friends.

 

[goldenstate5]

I saw the movie again today. Sadly the audience was quite muted except for a vocal bunch in the front row, only a few jokes got everybody in theater cracking up.

I forgot how much the movie relies on 80's references. Not that it's a bad thing, but it's strange to consider how Segel and Stoller are viewing this from the perspective of the general public: lumping the characters in with the pop culture relics of the 1980's. Yes, it's woven into the narrative, but they're clearly attempting to help with the nostalgia. And... that doesn't work for me. Of course, I was born in 1988, so I'm not the exact target here. It's just that a huge part of the movie is "Muppets = 1980's" that is actually the most troubling thing for me.

Thankfully aside from Kermit filing through the rolodex, they ease up on the "LOL Muppets are dated" humor and have an updated Muppet Show play out before our eyes.

Richman's rap works if you view it as a joke rather than a full-blown musical number (because it really is reduced to a mere minute of screentime), but I can start to see where you guys are coming from with the "he can't laugh" bit. Deadly alludes to it in his big moment... and suddenly the seams are showing. I'm fine with "Maniacal Laugh" being a very random joke, but throw the line, "It's an idiom you idiot, 'cause you can't!"... whoops! Of course, you can still assume, but it would have been best if they included it, yes.

The wedding scene... not so much. Piggy mentions it in her scene in Paris with Kermit, that settles things. Anything else would have been superfluous.

Otherwise, I still enjoyed it. I think I'll wait for the Blu-Ray in March to see it again.

 

[Cindy]

Wanted to share a different perspective on the maniacal laugh bit. I was talking to my sister, whom isn't necessarily a big Muppet fan, but she's related to me and so she gets it and is supportive of our obsession. Anyway she went with her two teenage sons, sister-in-law and her 5 year neice and they all loved it. She called me afterwards and left a message saying, "Call me, we need to talk Muppets!" LOL!

Anyway, I asked her about the maniacal laugh and if it was funny to her and she said it was hilarious. She thought that it was an "acting gag". In other words the actor was just reading "maniacal laugh" from the script, and instead of actually laughing, he was just intepreting the script literally.

For some reason I think this is funnier than the fact that the character can't laugh. Of course she figured it out at the end when Uncle Deadly mentions it, but with the way she intepreted it originally, she wouldn't have needed it - it was still funny.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I posted a review at www.muleythemule.com. There are spoilers.

 

[CensoredAlso]

OK...here we go...

Is this movie as good as The Muppet Movie, Great Muppet Caper or Muppets Take Manhattan? No, No and No.

HOWEVER, I am happy to say it's the first time in a long time that I've truly enjoyed a new Muppet movie.

Pros

• Gonzo: "I've been wearing this under my suit for years!" I literally almost cried at that moment. That's the Gonzo I grew up with, lol.
• I definitely started crying during Kermit's "Pictures in My Head" song. In many ways it mirrored the real life concerns Muppet fans have felt over the years.
• Scooter's onstage moment (I get into that more in one of the Scooter threads, hehe).
• Fozzie and Rowlf's recasts were near perfect, it didn't feel distracting at all.
• Piggy, thank goodness, had so much dignity. I think if the Muppets Take Manhattan story had been continued back in the '80s, this is the Piggy we would have seen. And that's a huge compliment, btw.
• I LOVED Uncle Deadly showing the bad guy what a maniacal laugh really is. Boris Karloff would be proud!
• I'd never really seen Jason Segal before but Gary was adorable, lol.
• My friend and I laughed when Amy refused to sit on Gonzo's used toilets, lol.
• Jim Parsons, the entire audience was laughing, lol. I could totally see him fitting in with the Muppets back in the day.
• Walter - I'll be honest, at first I was a little creeped out by him, lol. But he got a lot better when he started searching for Kermit. I guess because he was taking action as opposed to just obsessing (a lesson all fans should learn from, hehe).
• The ending - I liked it personally. It reminded me of It's a Wonderful Life where technically the bad guy wins, but the hero is the one with the true victory.
  

Cons

• There was too much plot and not enough Muppet antics. You can only take the Muppets being miserable for so long, at some point you need to bring back the comedy (something MTM was very good at). I remember one of the kids in the audience laughed when Gonzo threw the bowling ball at the end; if there had been more moments like that, the movie would have livened up a lot.
• I get that the '80s are big right now, but some '70s jokes would have been a lot more appropriate considering that's when The Muppet Show was on the air and that's where most of the focus was. (I think if this movie had been made in the '90s we would have gotten more '70s, lol).
• The :: fart shoes joke. Not funny. Not at all. But thankfully it was short, lol.
• I felt like Amy's song could have easily been left on the cutting room floor and you still would have gotten a good sense of her character and her frustration.

So in conclusion, was it perfect? No. But it did have enough genuinely Muppet moments to please a very relieved Muppet fan.

Oh yes, and here's my shameless plug of my Blog review, hehe:

http://herald7.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/go-see-the-muppets-2011/