3) Muppets Most Wanted
This is a strange one, because I know a lot of people who didn’t really dig Muppets Most Wanted, but at a “Certified Fresh” 79%, apparently a lot more people did. I agree that The Muppets gloriously revamped Jim Henson’s iconic puppets with a new sense of life, but I found Muppets Most Wanted incredibly procedural. Instead of finding the typical fun and joy, I found a more structured path full of the typical songs, cameos, and Muppet mayhem – a certain spark was missing. “The Rainbow Connection” is a song powerful enough to make grown men weep, yet months after screening James Bobin’s sequel, I can’t remember a single song from Kermit’s criminal caper. Where has the magic gone?
Muppets Most Wanted has some absolutely dynamite moments worthy of the Muppet name, be it Danny Trejo playing himself in prison (Ray Liotta and others are actual fake criminals), or generic Fozzy one-liners, but I found myself laughing significantly less than other Muppet adventure films. This time around the story felt too calculated. It was almost as if everyone involved knew how a Muppet movie should run, so they created a generic base for the film to build on, but that typical stand-out liveliness never came to fruition. Watching a Muppet movie should be an emotional experience – not a throwaway blockbuster watch.
Looking back on Muppets Most Wanted now, I’m actually a little sad. I never want to speak ill of characters meant to bring nothing but happiness and sunshine into our lives, but I couldn’t bring myself to muster anything more than a “meh” when the credits rolled. Here’s to hoping for another sequel that sets things right!
-Matt Donato