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Warm-hearted, emotionally involving, and delightfully lacking in the rampant post-modern snark that DreamWorks has infected family-aimed entertainment with, The Muppets is a glorious piece of nostalgia and a welcome return to a piece of pop-culture that has been missing for far too long.
As someone who grew up with The Muppet Show rerunning, new Muppet films invading the theaters, and more than a few products and VHS tapes related to the Muppets, I’m not entirely sure how impartial I can be. Or how emotionally stable I’ll be after admitting that I may have become teary-eyed multiple times during the course of this film from sheer happiness at some points and sadness at another. But, hell, I’m not being professional paid for writing this stuff (and it does take me forever to write and post these damn things). So journalistic integrity be damned! I’m a fan of the Muppets irreverent and self-reflexive brand of humor since my time as a toddler. I missed them greatly.
The plot, like it’s totally necessary to explain it…, harkens back to the Rooney-Garland “Let’s put on a show!” cheeriness of yore. You see, the Muppets studios and soundstages are coming up for auction, and unless they can raise the money to buy them back, an evil corporate businessman will tear them down to drill for oil. So, our intrepid heroes must plea with the Muppets to get back together and put all of the bad blood and history behind them for just one night.
Yes, we get reacquainted with old friends along the way, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to getting a little teary eyed at points, and it’s such a joyous and wonderful experience. We’re also subjected to the irreverent, meta-humor that only the Muppets can do so well. And there’s musical numbers. Lots of them actually, and the new songs, old songs, and covers all blend together beautifully. But, for me, as charming as “Life’s a Happy Song,” moving “Pictures in My Head,” hysterical “Me Party,” and the all-of-the-above-choice “Man or Muppet” are, nothing beats the whole gang getting together for a group version of “The Rainbow Connection.” What starts out as a duet between Kermit and Miss Piggy soon becomes a group sing-a-long, and possibly their mantra, chant, or religious hymnal.
I must admit, I was expecting The Muppets to not do much business at the box office. Time, as shown in the movie, had passed them by and they remained mostly fond memories of numerous “older” people. (At 25, I had co-workers a few years younger who were confused as to the appeal of them and didn’t grow up with them.) And when the film took off so spectacularly, I was ecstatic. There aren’t too many things from my childhood which I look back on with such love and fondness, and the Muppets gang is one of them. Welcome back guys, now don’t make me wait too long for the inevitable sequel.
