The Muppets

Well, there really is nothing like nostalgia to get me liking a film. Much like the charm in the end credits of Jackass 3D, The Muppets made me feel my age, how long it’s been since I first saw Kermit and the gang, and how much we grow and how little we change.

This may seem a tad dramatic an opening for a film about puppets, but it really is an eye opener. I remember growing up with the Muppet’s Christmas Carol, and the memories of when and were I watched it really came to light with this modern adaption of the characters.

First off, if you’re not familiar with the Muppets formula, it’s a musical comedy. Both elements of song and joke writing really lit up here, with Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords fame deservedly winning the Oscar for best original song, and Jason Segel, writer of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, heading a small team of writers with a lovely plot stuffed with gags.

The story plays to its strengths, almost narrating its own success by telling the story of the Muppets reunion, as Kermit and the gang’s old studio is being bought for the oil underneath it. It is up to Gary, Mary and Walter, to reunite the Muppets for one last show, if they are to save their studio and the Muppet name.

When watching the film, I felt like it had been forever since I’d seen anything Muppet related, forgetting for a moment their viral success with musical covers in recent years, instead emoting with the love story of Kermit and Miss. Piggy, and wishing for them to save the Muppets legacy.

It’s a deliciously fun, young and dumb film, full of beautiful jokes which turn the focus to the film itself, with some beautiful songs along the way, with something for all ages. These Muppets may be old, but they bring more character and fun to film than anything in recent memory.

8/10