Review of Muppets Most Wanted (2014) by David C — 04 Sep 2014

"Muppets Most Wanted" is a trifle, here and gone. The songs are good, with Brett McKenzie returning to write the original material. Since song and dance are the Muppets' bread and butter, this is probably the most important thing.

The story, on the other hand, is slapdash and forgettable, although the scenes in a Russian Gulag are nice for a quick jolt of Soviet-era nostalgia. (Those scenes are not quick, though; they go on and on.

) The recently-created Muppet Walter is surplus to requirements alongside the very-similar Scooter. As if meta-commentary could preempt fair criticism, there is a joke in the script about Walter stealing screentime from classic and beloved Muppets like Gonzo and Rowlf, who are seldom seen or heard here.

(In Rowlf's case, that may not be a bad thing, since his voice is farthest from Henson's original.) Most of the cameos work, and some don't, which is always to be expected of cameos. Among the human stars, Tina Fey is funny (though she can't entirely salvage the tiresome gulag bits) and Ricky Gervais is good but underused.

The movie lasts too long for the material, and an impulse toward cloying sappiness makes things increasingly squirmy. Miss Piggy and Sam the Eagle have a number of very strong scenes that make the film watchable, if still less than necessary.