The Great Muppet Caper Reviews

"I hate to be rude, but we're trying to do a movie here..."

From the very early stages of 1981's The Great Muppet Caper, it's clear that the picture is in good hands. Opening with a bang, this second feature-length Muppet endeavour begins with a hilarious meta conversation about the opening titles, followed by some uproarious Muppet-style antics and a joyous musical number. Fortunately, this high standard is retained throughout, as the sense of fun and wonderment seldom slows down across its 95-minute duration. The Great Muppet Caper is actually the only Muppet feature to be directed by the late Jim Henson, and it remains a wonderful cinematic relic of the Henson years. While not quite as good as 1979's The Muppet Movie, it's a worthy successor, full of enough inspired moments of hilarity to please hardcore fans and provide a fun time for the uninitiated.

In this story, Kermit the Frog (Henson) and Fozzie Bear (Frank Oz) are "identical" twin brothers who work as newspaper reporters for the Daily Chronicle with Gonzo the Great (Dave Goelz), but they're almost fired when they miss an enormous scoop. To redeem themselves, the trio travels to London to investigate the theft of several precious jewels from wealthy fashion designer Lady Holiday (Diana Rigg). Low on cash, they're forced to stay at the dilapidated Happiness Hotel which is also home to many other Muppet characters. During their investigation, Kermit also meets Miss Piggy (Oz), Lady Holiday's new secretary who manages to convince Kermit that she's actually Lady Holiday.

As with its forerunner, The Great Muppet Caper gets plenty of mileage out of meta jokes, with the Muppets all firmly aware that they're in a motion picture. For instance, Lady Holiday at one stage gives Miss Piggy the movie's entire backstory, justifying herself by saying that the plot exposition needs to be put somewhere. Later, Sesame Street's Oscar the Grouch shows up for what he himself describes as "a very brief cameo." And this is to say nothing of the barrage of amusing one-liners and set-pieces scattered throughout the movie, making this an effortlessly amusing sit for kids and adults alike. However, the movie is not as strong during its final third - Henson struggles to maintain the furious momentum of the first two acts, and there are fewer laughs. Still, the madness is often enjoyable, and though it meanders a little bit, the movie is never a drag.

No Muppet feature is complete without musical numbers, and The Great Muppet Caper fulfils this requirement with confidence. The film is predominantly a homage to old-school screwball comedies and detective capers from the '30s and '40s, but there are also big musical numbers in the vein of Busby Berkeley. For instance, there's a magnificent sequence in which Miss Piggy swims in sync with other elaborately costumed girls while Charles Grodin (who's dubbed in an obvious, hilarious way) croons in a direct parody of Berkeley's movies. There are other wonderful songs as well, and it's hard to wipe the smile off your face during sequences involving the whole Muppet gang. The sense of joy rarely lets up.

Celebrity cameos are another staple of this franchise, and The Great Muppet Caper has a few nice surprises up its sleeve. Former James Bond girl Diana Rigg is a joy as Lady Holiday, while the perpetually brilliant John Cleese pops in for an amusing cameo, starring alongside Joan Sanderson who also appeared with Cleese in an episode of Fawlty Towers. However, the movie is not packed to the gills with cameos like most Muppet productions, and more guest stars would've amplified the movie's sense of fun. On a more positive note, the Muppet performers are as good as ever, and it's always nice to look back on the bygone era of the infinitely talented Henson and Oz.

Although The Great Muppet Caper suffers from uneven pacing and a lack of heart, it's still a great entry to the Muppet canon. It's bigger and grander than its predecessor, and at times feels like a James Bond-esque espionage movie, albeit one that also finds time for some slapstick comedy and a few Busby Berkeley-style musical numbers. It's essential viewing for Muppet fans, while casual movie-goers will no doubt be enraptured by the colourful visuals and the healthy sense of humour.

7.7/10

Continuing my reviews of the Muppets movies, I went further with the 2nd installment and since the ratings were pretty good, I was rather hopeful. Eventually, I thought it was pretty good but not much more than that, I’m afraid. This time, they are sent to England, for no particular reasons, and they are investigating on some jewel heists and, once again Miss Piggy falls in love with Kermit and it begins to become a tired old gimmick. I thought that the intro in the balloon was pretty cool with some funny comments about the opening credits but I’m afraid it was the funniest scene in the movie. To start with, pretty much like the 1st installment, I had a hard time to care about all those songs. I mean, they are not bad and obviously a trademark of the Muppets but they popped up too often and they were simply not that good. The other thing that bothered me is why do they cram all these muppets in each movie? Just keep the leads and add a few supporting characters but don’t put all of them everytime around. Still, even though it didn’t really blow me away, it remains a fun and entertaining movie and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

For whatever reason, the Muppet films simply do not click with me. Granted, I think The Muppets Take Manhattan and the 2011 reboot are near masterpieces, but I've found myself relatively bored with the rest of the Muppet films. The Great Muppet Caper is a bit of a mixed bag for me. While the last 40 minutes or so is essentially devoid of any sort of laughter or entertainment, there are some parts in the first hour that are very funny. And yet the laughs were few, and while there were plenty of smiles, even a hesitant recommendation may not be hesitant enough.

The weirdly complicated plot involves Kermit, Fozzy, and Gonzo placed in charge of investigating a jewelry robbery (as they are newspaper reporters). The jewelry was stolen from Lady Holiday, whom Kermit wishes to interview, though due to an unfortunate mix-up, Kermit mistakes Miss Piggy for Lady Holiday, leading up to several complications. In addition, another jewelry thief takes place, and Miss Piggy is framed!

There's more to the plot than that, but most other details are unnecessary. And that's one of the problems with this film; unnecessary detail. The movie is way too busy. Nicky Holiday (Lady Holiday's brother) develops feelings for Miss Piggy, but this adds absolutely nothing to the story. Many other plot threads like this are in this film, and many of them should've been cut.

I've already mentioned that the last 40 minutes are dull, and believe me; they are an absolute snooze fest. And they're also completely nonsensical. The convoluted plot suddenly takes a sharp tune from the mildly serious, to an "anything goes" kind of finish. It's not particularly satisfying if you had to ask.

And then we have the breaking of the fourth wall which happens far too much. Personally, I find it funny when a film breaks the fourth wall, but this is a kind of humor that's much better in moderation. The fact that the fourth wall is broken over half a dozen times before the opening credits are over should tell you something about the over-use of this kind of humor.

And yet, despite these flaws, there are times when The Great Muppet Caper is pretty fun. John Cleese and Joan Sanderson have arguably the funniest scene in the film portraying a British elderly couple at breakfast having a deliciously droll and satirical conversation that's nearly impossible not to smile during. Jack Warden also gets a funny cameo as a newspaper editor, as does Robert Morley as a British Gentlemen.

Of course, there are a number of memorable lines as well, and the technical aspect of many scenes is quite astounding.

The musical numbers are certainly a mixed bag. "Hey, a Movie," is forgettable and the onscreen events are chaotic and cluttered. "Happiness Hotel" is an extremely clever and upbeat song, and one of the best songs in the film (it's also very well choreographed). "The First Time it Happens" is the standout of the film, with catchy lyrics, and great choreography. And lastly, "Couldn't We Ride" is immensely dull, despite some nifty onscreen special effects.

Charles Grodin as Nicky Holiday is forgettable, but then again, so is the character. Diana Rigg gets some great lines as Lady Holiday, and is easily the standout of the (admittedly small) human cast.

The score, composed by Joe Raposo, is a simple parody score. Like most of the Muppet scores, the music works fine for the film, but it's not likely to hold up well when taken away from it.

Falling squarely in the middle of the Muppet films, The Great Muppet Caper has some amusing scenes, but dull stretches, a convoluted plot, and fourth wall joke overkill, stops it from achieving a higher rating. Still, I came away from the film humming one or two of the songs, and recalling some funny cameos, so I suppose The Great Muppet Caper succeeds to at least some extent.