MOVIE REVIEW - The Muppets Most Wanted

They keep making Muppet movies and we keep going, and for the most part, that is a good thing.

The Muppet movies have always had a good idea, especially recently that they don't take themselves too seriously. They poke fun at themselves and that is endearing to us.  They are also Hollywood cameo laden films that are geared toward the young and old alike.  Like this one is.

This picks up right where the last one leaves off. The Muppets are back together and now are ready to give their fans what they want. They are approached by a new agent, Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) and he convinces the Muppets to sign on with him and go on a world tour.  Enter Constantine.   He is a Kermit The Frog look-a-like, and he has just escaped a maximum security Russian Gulag deep in Siberia. He conspires with Dominic to take over the Muppets by kidnapping Kermit and shipping him off to the Gulag in Siberia he just escaped from.  They then go on a European crime spree, with the hopes of pinning all the blame on the naive Muppets and making a getaway.  Constantine takes Kermits place and no one is the wiser. 

That's it in a nutshell.  A Cold War type of theme that 2 years ago before events in the real world took place with Russia, this may have been a bit more funny.  This movie is CLEARLY written far more for adults than kids with its historical humor. And there are some fun moments here and a few fun songs. But, this movie is a victim of the real world in the timing of its release.

Right now, it isn't as funny to joke about USA/Russia relations with the Muppets.  And I am not sure it was ever a really good idea to make fun of, and show in a light manner the Russian Gulags. Long considered one of the most inhumane things ever invented to incarcerate human criminals, but we do here. Toss in the fact that I think most of us are a bit over the awe of what the Muppets can do, and it has become mundane.  I really liked the last movie, as it was very light-hearted and more along the lines of what good family entertainment could be.  This is written way over young children's heads, and for me, that takes a bunch of the fun out of it. I am not sure at all that 5 year-olds appreciate Cold War humor.

This is also entirely too long. This would have been far more fun 20 minutes shorter, and overall more light in script.  I really enjoyed some of the musical numbers, and found them to be the movies best scenes.  There is also some really funny parody of the European lifestyle, Interpole, and our relations with them.  But kids, are not going to get that either. 

The Muppets Most Wanted. Moments of fun, but really a misfire. Not all of it, its fault.