Our Movie Review: Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

Why we watched it: We really liked the recent reb00t Muppet movie

Our rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Our review: I’ve seen all the Muppet movies, and while they all have their charms, some have felt more worked and less fun that others. I was a bit concerned that this followup to the 2011 outing would fail to continue with the same unforced energy. It mostly succeeds, and in fact is quite fun and funny. It continues the same self-referential world, with The Muppets viewing themselves as a franchise and yet still struggling to fit in. Hollywood and sequels get their fair share of the jokes, although the cameo after cameo loses its punch. Ricky Gervais does a great job holding it all together–he has the right comic touch for the Muppet’s style of humor.

Beyond the humor, it is the music and songs that have set apart the good Muppet movies. Bret McKenzie’s music for the 2011 movie was indeed Oscar-worthy, and his continued skill as expertly mimicking and thus skewering music time periods pays off again. “I’ll Get You What You Want (Cockatoo in Malibu)” is funny and catchy, a rare feat. I was singing it for days afterwards.

And seeing Ms. Piggy go all Hulk on the evil “Kermit”–that hit my geek heart.

While not as natural a story as the 2011 reboot, this movie had laughs and charms, making it well worth seeing.