By Nicholas Proch
Since the passing of Jim Henson in 1990, the amount of attention paid to the Muppets has been sparse. It took a leading man, such as Henson, to drive the lovable felt-covered crew to success. Kermit and the gang could do no wrong for nearly a half century. With Henson’s death came the end of an era. That was the case until Jason Segel got his chance to revive a forgotten brand.
Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You, Man) co-wrote and stars in the newest puppet adventure titled simply, The Muppets. This film is hands-down the best Muppet movie since The Muppets Take Manhattan, which also happens to be the last theatrical release that Henson directed.
Segel completely sold himself to his lead role. From his absurdly choreographed, but somehow unpretentious, dance numbers, to his sometimes painful lack of vanity, you can’t help but embrace what he is doing on the screen. He’s taking a disregarded powerhouse and turning the lights on again for this generation.
It is Segel’s dedication and determination that made this movie both great and possible. It took many attempts to get Walt Disney Studios to back his script. He worked and promoted until he created enough buzz around the web that the studio had to listen and get this project made. The studio underestimated how strong of a writer and entertainment machine Segel can be. That will certainly never happen again.
The film’s plot echoes the troubles that the Muppets have in today’s actual entertainment industry. They have been a dead brand for over a decade and receive little to no air time. They are limited to being stuck in the bowels of YouTube where you can watch antiquated clips of Henson’s genius and making sporadic appearances with celebrities in interviews or on award shows. Good clean fun is missing from today’s industry. The Muppets are here just in time to bring it back.
Segel plays Gary, the brother of a felt covered, muppet-looking Walter (voiced by Peter Linz who is a prominent voice actor in the puppeteering industry). As Segel ages and grows up, Walter is seemingly stuck in time. It turns out that puppets don’t get older.
As you could imagine any boy puppet would be, Walter is a Muppet fanatic. However, this isn’t the same story of Pinocchio trying to become a real boy, Walter wants to simply meet his idols. Unfortunately for Amy Adams (Catch Me If You Can, The Fighter), who plays Segel’s girlfriend Mary, he wants to do so on her anniversary trip to Los Angeles, which Segel invited Walter on.
The underlying, and sometimes subtle, conflict between Mary and Walter is a strong secondary story line in the film. It is only overshadowed by the main events throughout the 98-minute fun-filled affair.
It’s simple, the disbanded and out of touch Muppet crew needs to do one last show to raise enough money to save their studio. A studio which is scheduled to be demolished should they not reach their hefty goal of $10 million.
There are times when the writing gets over-the-top silly, but somehow you can look past it. After all, wasn’t that what made Henson so great? The film is filled with life lessons, real-world issues and reflects carefully on changes in society, but you never feel like you are being preached to at any point.
The emotional highs and lows are well-crafted and fit nicely into the story line. One moment you find yourself cackling at the infamous old men, Waldorf and Statler, the next you need to look around to make sure you’re not the only person in the theater in tears during Kermit’s ‘Rainbow Connection’.
Whether you need to accompany a young family member or just happen to be a fan of the show, this is worth seeing. The clean, but very smart, brand of comedy has been missing from the industry for far too long, but we should all be appreciative of the fact that Segel may have just brought it back to the forefront.
