The Muppets [Blu-Ray]

I still find it unbelievable that The Muppets movie was actually one of my top ten favorite films of last year, but it was, and for good reason. It?s amazing!

The Movie:

Let me start off by saying I didn?t grow up with the Muppets. Being an '80s baby, I actually grew up more with the Muppet Babies rather than the Muppets themselves, which in itself was a pleasant, if not different, introduction to the clan. Why did I bring that up? Well, because this review isn?t really for fans of the Muppets. Those people have already seen this movie in theatres and know just how great it is. This review is for people, like myself, who know of the Muppets, but never really got into them. And for those people, all I have to say is that this movie will make you a believer. If you weren?t obsessed with the Muppets before, you will be after you see this.

The story is interesting in that it actually features human characters in prominent roles. Jason Segel, who plays the brother of a Muppet who is having an existential crisis, has a story that?s just as important as the main story with the Muppets themselves. Amy Adams plays his adorable girlfriend who?s willing to tolerate Segel?s devotion to his Muppet brother, Walter, only so long before drama ensues?sort of.

Of all the human characters in this film, though, Chris Cooper has the greatest and most surprising role as a rich oil baron so humorless that he can?t even do a maniacal laugh (you?ll get it when you see it). He wants to destroy the Muppets and keep them living in obscurity. And that?s the most interesting part about this story. It proposes that we?ve all forgotten about the Muppets and have moved on from them. But honestly, that couldn?t be further from the truth. Even as someone who never used to watch The Muppet Show (I know, I know, I?ll hang my head in shame), the Muppets have always been on the public?s mind. They?re like Mickey Mouse or Gumby. We might not be talking about them right now, but if they ever wanted to put on a show or a movie, we?d be there. And this movie toys with that idea. The greatest thing about all this, though, is that the Muppets look like they?re having a good time, and if they?re having a good time, then we?re having a good time. That?s why this was one of the best movies of last year.

I won?t spoil the ending, but of course it ends happily. How can a movie about the Muppets not? If I have only one complaint, it?s one that?s my own fault. Some of the movie revels in its past, and as a person who was never really into the Muppets before this film, I feel a little left out. But again, that?s my own fault. In the end, if you like good movies, then you?ll love this film.

The Disc:

I love these special features. Every last one of them only makes you love the film even more, which is what special features should do. ?Scratching the Surface: A Hasty Examination of The Making of The Muppets? is anything but hasty. It features the Muppets being goofballs, as always, behind the scenes. It even features a new Muppet named, J.G., so Muppet completists need to pick this Blu-Ray up just for that. ?Explaining Evil: The Full Tex Richman Song? features an even longer version of what has to be the best part of the whole movie for me -- Chris Cooper rapping about being rich.

The ?Unreleased Theatrical Spoof Trailers? segment features all those great viral gags we saw of the Muppets parodying other movies (the romantic one is my favorite). The deleted scenes are some of the best around since they feature celebrity after celebrity not featured in the movie. It?s like seeing the complete version of The Thin Red Line. Okay, it?s not like that, but it?s close. Okay, it?s not even close.

?The Longest Blooper Reel Ever Made (In Muppet History**We Think)? is just as hilarious as the title. And the commentary, while nothing revolutionary, is enjoyable enough. Overall, this is one of the best collections of special features in recent memory. It?s the perfect package: A great film with even better special features. Buy this Blu-ray. Buy this now.

Distributor: Walt Disney Home EntertainmentStarring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida JonesProduced by: David Hoberman, Todd LiebermanWritten by: Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller

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The Muppets

Chris Barsanti has been a Filmcritic reviewer since 2002. So there.

One of the great things about Jim Henson's Muppets shows and films was really just how much of the Muppets there were in them. Sure, humans continually popped into frame -- whether it was Steve Martin mugging for his ten seconds of screen time or Charles Grodin playing baddie. But mostly Henson stuck to his gloriously personable sock puppet weirdos destroying the set or bringing the house down with a big musical number. So while it's fantastic to see Jason Segel bringing the guys back to the big screen in proper form, it's disconcerting to see humans so prominently displayed. Amy Adams certainly does pull off a sweet solo number with admirable flash, but wouldn't it have been better with a backup chorus led by Rizzo the Rat?

Segel stars in and wrote this snarky-smart film, and he deserves credit for bringing back a franchise that had been driven into the ground by the uninspired likes of Muppet Treasure Island -- and with no less a creativity-killer behind him than the Muppets' new bosses: Disney. A soft-featured giant with a penchant for innocent-faced hangdog types, Segel plays Gary, mild-mannered resident of Smalltown whose brother Walter just so happens to be a Muppet who's obsessed with the TV Muppets. Gary agrees to bring Walter along on the anniversary trip he and his longtime girlfriend Mary (Adams, beaming to beat the sun) are taking to Los Angeles, blithely ignoring Mary's total disatisfaction with the arrangement.

A high-stepping song in which Gary and Walter sing about how perfect everything is kicks things off like a chirpy, hard-working Broadway musical. The smiles are stretched as wide as an IMAX screen and an air of mildly trippy surrealism pervades (perhaps the film's best nod to the original 1979 film). Disappointment looms when Walter discovers that the Muppet theater is a run-down dusty shell on Hollywood boulevard, and the old gang scattered to the winds. That blow is followed up by the arrival of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), who's exploiting a loophole in the Muppets contract that gives him control of the theater --  and the oil deposits underneath -- if the Muppets can't raise $10 million in a few days.

Like a latter-day Blues Brothers, the film quickly pivots into "we're getting the band back together mode," always a convenient excuse for giving a large cast of characters their moment to shine. As great as it is to see Miss Piggy swanning around the Paris offices of Vogue and Gonzo as a filthy rich toilet magnate, though, Segel earns extra points for imagining Animal in anger management class ("Jack Black says no drums!").

Segel and director James Bobin set the mood to full, beaming grins. All this sunshine is layered with gags that mostly zing (Kermit blowing dust off his old guest-star rolodex and calling up President Carter is a nice touch) but don't come as fast and thick as they could. Surprisingly, given Bobin's experience directing Flight of the Conchords, he doesn't pack the film with songs. Earlier films like The Great Muppet Caper had so many production numbers they were essentially musicals. The Muppets has just a few original numbers, including one with Cooper that could be the best solid minute of film audiences will see all year, padded out with covers ranging from the good (Gonzo's chickens doing Cee-Lo) to the sublime (a barbershop quartet rendition of "Smells Like Teen Spirit").

The Muppets is most satisfying the closer it hews to the glorious chaos of the old TV show, a mood heavily replicated in its last third. That sense of flailing vaudeville anarchy is missed in the rest of the film, which is funny enough and even occasionally touching, but sometimes forgets the cardinal rule of any Muppets creation: the humans should be there for cameos and celebrity hosting, not to star.

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