Izzy’s 8 and she was excited to see this movie so we took off to see it pretty much as soon as we could. On the whole, we were mildly amused but she sure had a hard time sitting still for the whole 2 hours.
To the positive, as usual The Muppets give with the usual wacky madcap humor. There are the gags and pratfalls that you expect from the movie. Fans of Sam the Eagle will be thrilled because for once he’s a central character and the center of attention for quite a while. The music numbers are not overwhelming and they’re semi-memorable. Probably the best thing about the movie, and the one that garnered the most laughs, was a Monsters University short before the movie started. After that the whole thing seemed rather downhill.
The negative bits come in most strongly from Izzy who said, I quote: “The plot was really confusing.” While I didn’t share the sentiment I can see how she might think that given her age. I’m also increasingly unhappy with the attention paid to the character and voice of the Muppets themselves. Rowlf now sounds like Scooter and Scooter sounds more like Fozzie. Statler and Waldorf sound completely different and the beloved Animal is a shadow of his former glory. While I understand they’ll never match exactly it seems like the voice casting isn’t even trying to match the originals at this point.
In summary, if you’ve seen all the movies before this and you’re just interested in completeness then this one is a fine choice. All the usual lovable characters are there and at least they look the same. Aside from a focus on Kermit and Sam the rest of the cast is pretty typically represented. To those who are just looking for a kids movie to see I’d pick something else. Izzy squirmed and squirmed the whole time and had that poor bored look on her face that says, “is this over yet” from about minute 20 to the end.
The Tattered Thread 