Saturday, November 26, 2011

The Muppets (2011)- After giving myself some time to think, I would have to say that this movie is highly recommendable. The reason I gave myself some time before reviewing it is because its one of those movies that gives you a "fun high" after it. TOO MUCH FUN! If someone walked into the movie with expectations for a character driven story, they won't get it. But if they are looking for a good time, plenty of jokes, and certain freshness that comes from the combination of young (Selena Gomez and Jack Black bits) and old (Pee Wee Herman map traveling) ideals, they will definitely be pleased. The performances are hammy (especially the muppets, "Waka waka") from Jason Segal and Chris Cooper (the military dad in 'American Beauty') but that's all part of its charm. Also, Amy Adams gets her fair share of screen time doing musical bits, which is a welcome return to her big break in 'Enchanted'. Speaking of the music, the film contains many homages to the HBO show 'Flight of the Conchords', of which I was a fan of. Many of the musical numbers are written by one of its stars, Bret McKenzie, featuring clever and catchy tunes like a rap by Chris Cooper, and one about a party of one (a "me" party) that I absolutely enjoyed. In fact, the music was probably one of my favorite aspects. Though music only goes so well with its director, also a creator of 'Flight of the Conchords', James Bobin, who actually did a stunning job, considering a lot of the work he did for the TV show was very low budgeted. It seemed fairly unexpected that the pieces in this film be so large and "in your face", but oh how they were. Definitely give this movie a shot if you are in the mood for some good ol' fashioned family laughs.



- Jeff Bassin