‘Muppets Most Wanted’ fails to deliver despite star cameos

‘Muppets Most Wanted’ fails to deliver despite star cameos

When I first heard that a sequel to “The Muppets” movie was being released, I was rather skeptical. After seeing “The Muppets” movie, I was relieved that some of the original magic of “The Muppet Show” in 1976 was back in action. For it to make a revival two times was concerning. That being said, I was surprised that there was even the mildest attempt to maintain the gang’s messy, fun nature throughout “Muppets Most Wanted.” The opening musical number — a full-out, dazzling number titled “We’re Doing a Sequel” goes to explicit lengths to lower expectations, warning the audience that “everybody knows the sequel’s never quite as good.”

The Muppets are finally ready to go back on tour with their wacky acts including Miss Piggy’s Celine Dion ballads and Gonzo’s indoor Running of the Bulls. It is up to Kermit to rein in the chaos and make the show desirable to its wide range of audience members. Fortunately, tour manager Dominic Badguy, played by Ricky Gervais, offers the Muppets a spot in his already hectic schedule with President Bill Clinton and Rihanna. Badguy, pronounced “bad-gee” because “it’s French,” suggests that they take their tour worldwide. Naturally, Kermit has his doubts, but Badguy sugarcoats Fozzie and the gang, that later convinces Kermit to abide.

From then on, the plot starts to get a little jumpy. The gang ends up in Berlin, Germany where Badguy lands them a huge gig. But Kermit veers from the group and finds himself mistaken for Constantine, the world’s number-one criminal; he ends up imprisoned in a Siberian Gulag. I originally thought I would like the idea of the gang traveling across the country, but after seeing them in Russia, I have to say I prefer them in their natural habitat. I felt that all the jumping back and forth between places took away from the true focus of the movie, which is always the Muppets.

As if the chaos of the plot wasn’t enough, the multiple celebrity inclusions had my mind even more confused as to what I was watching. Did you see that movie “New Year’s Eve?” with the 50-plus big name movie stars who you saw for maybe a minute and hardly contributed to the plot? That’s how this movie felt. We saw Usher for thirty seconds only for him to say, “Yeah, I’m the Usher.” Lady Gaga made an appearance in the opening number, as well as Celine Dion in a later song with Miss Piggy. There was no need for all of  the celebrity cameos, except Tina Fey’s as the sassy Nadya, a Russian Gulag prison guard who happened to fawn over Kermit the Frog — there was even a shrine. It took away from the gang, which, for me anyways, is who I want to see when I go see a movie titled “Muppets Most Wanted.”

I can’t say that I am or ever have been a die-hard Muppets fan who was counting down the days until “Muppets Most Wanted” came out. As a 90s child, I must say that Kermit the Frog played a key role in my childhood. I was hoping that this sequel would adhere to the greatness of the 2011 Muppets movie, but, sadly, I was disappointed. They tried too many new things at one time in this movie. The overload of big name stars didn’t seem to mix as smoothly with the international traveling in the movie. I feel that if they had chosen one aspect over the other, the audience would have been able to focus more on the Muppets and their adventure.

Although it had its moments, I wouldn’t recommend that you rush out to the next showing and pay the astronomical prices that movie theaters make you pay to see this sequel. If you have younger children who don’t overanalyze everything and appreciate the whimsical puppets, you could splurge to see this in theaters and get the full experience. If you have the strong desire to see it for yourself, I suggest waiting for its release on Netflix or Redbox.

Senior Edition

Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get them in front of Issuu's millions of monthly readers. Title: Senior Edition, Author: The Etownian, Name: Senior Edition, Length: 10 pages, Page: 1, Published: 2020-04-30