So, before The Chief finally gets around to finishing off Rocky season (IV, V & VI still to go) he enters the world of The Muppets. With 6 previous films as well as the new release, he'll have his hands full over the coming days with talking frogs, (un)funny bears and great gonzos (whatever he is)
In 7 words or less: Unlikely hand puppets wow kids & adults
What's it all About? This is essentially a muppets origin story. Kermitt leaves the swamp and goes on a cross country journey to Hollywood where he intends to become a star. Along the way he picks up Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great and Miss piggy, among others.
Best bits? The songs that feature in the movie are crackers and all have that sing-along element to them. There is a great scene when Kermitt and Fozzie meet Dr Teeth and his band,The Electric Mayhem. They rock out hard and we get a brain melting bit where they find a script of the movie they're in about the movie they're making of the movie......wtf?
Did it make you think thoughts? Hot damn I love me some muppets. This tongue-in-cheek, biographical account of how the muppets met and became friends is a classic example of the road movie genre. The tv show is a classic but operates in a very different format to a feature length film. I'm happy to say that the translation is a smooth one and works well.
The muppets were such big business in the 70's that stars were queueing up to get cameo roles in the tv show and this film. I mean come on, you've got Bob Hope, James Coburn, Elliot Gould, Orson Wells, Richard Pryor, and Big Bird. The highlights though are grabbed by Steve Martin's insolent waiter and Mel Brook's crazy German professor.
However good these cameos are though, they can't outshine the muppets themselves. Fozzie is a laugh riot, Piggy and Kermie share one of the silver screen's greatest romances and Dr Teeth wows everytime time he's on screen.
Would you watch it again? Definitely
Rating (out of 100%): Who'd have thought that a bunch of felt covered hand puppets from the 70's would be back in vogue some 35 years later. I give The Muppet Movie an inspirational, celebrational, muppitational 84%
