Muppet magic recaptured in merry reunion
The greatest Muppets movie ever made?
By an Animal's hair: "The Muppets Take Manhattan," if for no other reason than cakes and desserts sing backup vocals in the number "Somebody's Getting Married" - featuring Kermit the Frog.
Now, along comes the delightful and wacky "The Muppets," and it's more than inventive and funny enough to erase memories of 1999's disappointing "Muppets From Space," the last Muppets film.
In "The Muppets," Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller have written a clever movie that not only recaptures the magic from the hey day of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson, it gives the classic spoof "Airplane" a run for its meta-money by poking fun at filmmaking techniques.
("Let's travel by map!" a Muppet says. Cut to a map where a red line traces their car trip across the ocean.)
The main plot involves rounding up the estranged Muppets gang to conduct a telethon to raise $10 million to save the abandoned Muppets Theater in L.A.
If they can't, an evil oil executive named Tex Richman (<I>a rapping Chris Cooper - I kid you not!</I>) will raze the theater and mine the oil underneath it. You can tell he's evil, because he orders his Muppet minions, "Laugh maniacally!" And they do.
Of course, the plot is just an excuse for a series of hilarious vignettes for the Muppets to demonstrate their considerable musical comedy talents.
The main characters are human Gary (Segel) and his brother Walter, inexplicably a Muppet-ized sibling obsessed with all things Muppets.
Realizing the plight of the theater, Gary, Walter and Gary's girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) head off to L.A. to help, meeting the legendary Kermit the Frog, who agrees to assist them.
This is a joyful, engaging musical comedy, bursting with wit, sight gags and smartly executed dance numbers delivered riotously straight, as if Segel and Adams were actually performing in a "Singing in the Rain" sequel.
For kids, "The Muppets" continues to teach values and model behavior without ever lecturing. Walter, an obvious stand-in for every child who feels alone or different, finds his own special skill set - one that hasn't been heard since the Top 40 hit song "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman."
Like "Grease," the "Star Trek" films and the "Star Wars" movies, "The Muppets" reaffirms the warm, universal adolescent belief that friends constitute the most important asset human beings can have.
Muppets, too.
“The Muppets”
★ ★ ★ ★
Starring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Jack Black, Emily Blunt, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Walter and Animal
Directed by: James Bobin
Other: A Walt Disney release. Rated PG. 120 minutes