The Muppets Get an Encore

     Lets face it, the muppets haven't been very good over the past decade. There was a really bad feature film and several less than stellar TV specials. But I remember a time when Jim Henson's beloved creations could do no wrong. I grew up not just on Sesame Street, but also on The Dark Crystal, and The Jim Henson Hour. I had been rather irritated with the how badly Disney had mishandled the muppets since acquiring them. Luckily for us, Disney has righted it's wrong in an amazing way with The Muppets.

    The film goes back to the muppet gang's cinematic roots, most notably The Muppet Movie (1979). They even give us a rather well written new muppet named Walter. The story is heartfelt and humorous, which is exactly what a muppet film should be. Kermit is actually rather depressed in the beginning, and getting the old gang back together is a bit trickier than you'd expect. They squeeze in practically every muppet that ever existed (although I don't think Rizzo was in it.) This does tend to be a problem, but not much of one. While the presence of Jason Segal and Amy Adams doesn't ad much to the film, they aren't the main focus and do a great job with underwritten characters. The new songs by Bret McKenzie are fun and memorable. Life's a Happy Song is a shoe in for an Oscar. My only nitpicks are that the actor playing the voice of Fozzie was a tiny bit off in places, and some of the leg work on Miss Piggy was awkward (there is a scene where you see her walking away from Kermit, and the leg movement is just weird looking. No one moves like that.)

   The Muppets is the revitalization that fans have been waiting for. It was hard not to smile most of the way through the film. Jason Segal's script is a love letter to our felt covered friends, and I think Jim Henson would be proud. The camaraderie and optimism that the muppets have come to represent is at the heart of this film, and that is why it works, while at the same time reminding us of the simple truth that "Life's a happy song when there's someone by your side to sing along".