Muppets Most Wanted (2014) review

One of the most pleasant surprises of 2011 was Disney’s reboot of ‘The Muppets’, the first ‘Muppets’ film to be released theatrically in more than a decade. It was clear that with this film, writers Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller had a lot of respect for the franchise, and that really showed in the final product. It was a film that was not only both charming and funny, but also one that had a lot of heart to it as well, resulting in what was definitely one of the best films of that year. Now, the Muppets are back again with ‘Muppets Most Wanted’. Most of the members of the previous film’s behind-the-scenes crew return for this one, including director James Bobin, writer Nicholas Stoller, and songwriter/music supervisor Bret McKenzie. This one, however, features a new cast of leads (not counting any of its cameos) in place of Jason Segel (who also does not return as one of the writers) and Amy Adams. How does this one hold up? Well, it may not exactly have the same amount of heart as its predecessor, but it’s still a very fun and zany film, one that pretty much captures the essence of why the Muppets are as memorable as they are.

‘Muppets Most Wanted’ literally opens right at the end of the last film, as the Muppets now look ahead wondering what to do for a ‘sequel’ now that they are famous again. A new opportunity arises when ‘tour manager’ Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) suggests that they go on a world tour. Despite Kermit’s hesitations, the Muppets agree to go on this world tour. What they don’t know is that this is actually a ruse set up by Dominic and his partner Constantine, the world’s number one criminal, who plan to steal the Crown Jewels of Britain and frame the Muppets for the crime. Constantine just so happens to be a dead ringer for Kermit, so part of the plan consists of Constantine taking Kermit’s place in the group while Kermit is sent to jail. Constantine manages to fool most of the other Muppets, including Miss Piggy, into believing that he is Kermit. However, Walter, Fozzie, and Animal figure out he isn’t and try to help Kermit get out of jail before Dominic and Constantine can succeed with their plan.

While this film is just as charming as its 2011 predecessor, it doesn’t really have the same heart that ‘The Muppets’ had. That film was, in every sense of the term, an open love letter to the franchise with the intent of making the franchise prominent again, which it did. As for this one, though, it’s basically just your average sequel. It goes through most of the motions that most sequels go through when they get made. However, that’s not really a bad film in regards to the film itself. This is really more of a case of the way that the film is executed. This is, as advertised, an international road trip/farce that’s more in line with a film like ‘The Great Muppet Caper’ or ‘Muppets Take Manhattan’. This is an old school ‘Muppets’ film and it’s a pretty solid representation of the franchise in general. There still are a few good morals and touching moments in this film, but I can’t say it’s as heartwarming as the previous film, a film that appealed to both the young newcomers to the franchise and those who grew up with it to begin with. This one is still a solid family film, though it kind of feels like this one is just a little bit more geared to kids.

With that said though, this is still a very fun movie full of pop culture references, zany humor, and cameos galore. And I do mean ‘cameos galore’ because there are a ton of them in here, probably even more so than in the original. There are appearances from people like Tom Hiddleston, Ray Liotta, Danny Trejo, and Lady Gaga just to name a few. All of them seem to be having a lot of fun doing this film keeping in line with the film’s silly atmosphere. The same can be said for the 3 three main leads; Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, who plays a Russian guard at the prison Kermit gets locked up in, and Ty Burrell, who plays an Interpol inspector who works with Sam the Eagle as the two investigate the robberies being committed by Dominic and Constantine. If I had to choose a standout from the three, it would have to be Burrell. He and Sam the Eagle work off each other really well and a lot of the film’s funniest lines come from those two, like the one that has been shown in the trailer where they show off their badges, trying to one up each other in regards to how big their badges are.

All in all, ‘Muppets Most Wanted’ is a pretty solid representation of the Muppets franchise as a whole; fun, zany, but also charming at the same time. However, I can’t quite say that this one was as heartwarming as its predecessor. That’s not entirely a problem here because in execution, this is very much a farce and as such, it’s still a very entertaining family film in that regard. It’s clear that everyone involved had a lot of fun making this film and it does show in the final product. Overall, if you really liked 2011’s ‘The Muppets’, than you will probably enjoy this film; if you didn’t, then you probably won’t like this one either. In the end though, I do think that ‘The Muppets’ was the better film because, from the bottom up, it was an open love letter to the franchise and as a result was a lot more heartwarming and sweet because of this. This film on the other hand, while still a charming and goofy family film, doesn’t really have that same benefit. Still, it’s a fun film that the whole family can enjoy; that includes both general newcomers and long-time fans.

Rating: 4/5