It’s not easy being green. It’s also not easy being the world’s No. 1 most dangerous criminal frog. But somehow the mix up makes for the focal point of James Bobin’s (“Flight of the Conchords”) excellent “Muppets Most Wanted.”
The film sets off on the grand, musical adventurous streak when the first Muppets film ended. Paid extras exit the set leaving Fozzie, Kermit and Miss Piggy to discover the film cameras haven’t left. Must be time for a sequel that the first song contends are not quite as good as the first (It also reminds the audience that this is the seventh time they’ve been brought to the screen).
Constantine, the evil frog criminal mastermind, has just escaped from a gulag run by a frustrated Soviet singer (Tina Fey, “30 Rock”). Constantine finds that he bears a striking resemblance to Kermit and enlists Guy Badguy (Rick Gervais, “Cemetery Junction”) to get the Muppets on a world tour so that he can kidnap Kermit and steal from a selection of museums all in a complex scheme to filch Britain’s crowned jewels.
As a film, “Muppets Most Wanted” can stand equally to Bobin’s first effort to bring the anthropomorphized puppets back to life (excited Kermit yelling and all), even sometimes surpassing “The Muppets” by pitching jokes at a mile a second. A litany of cameos make for assuredly amusing visual gags; Christoph Waltz (“Django Unchained”) dancing the waltz and Usher acting as, well, an usher.
At it’s best, like “The Lego Movie,” the film reminds just how much of a lack there is in smartly written and riotously active variety entertainment. When the Muppets all gather together to sing “The Muppet Show” opening number it recalls just how much fun can be had with a show that doesn’t aim to be educational (like Sesame Street) nor vulgar (like Avenue Q), but simply humorous.
It’s an eventful affair for the gang of Muppets. Russia shouldn’t be too pleased with their image as a band of show tunes singing prison wards who have the gall to put Danny Trejo (“Machete Kills”) in a prison variety show; singing Company’s “God, I Hope I Get It Number” no less.
Ty Burrell (“Modern Family”) appears as a orderly French interpol agent, always taking a break from his actual job of having to hunt Constantine and his mischievous companion Badguy. It’s a rather enjoyable gag that escalates more and more, as well as the constant one-upmanship which he and Sam the Eagle have when comparing official badge sizes.
There is a notable scene where the audience gets the chance to see what life would look like if Miss Piggy and Kermit had children. It’s strange, surreal and kind of touching, all in a weird way.
Kind of like the film, “Muppets Most Wanted” entertains with its best foot forward and what is received by the audience is an unabashedly amusing variety act.
