I came into this one knowing that I wasn't going to like it. My librarian didn't have anything good to say bout it, and in fact had bad things to say about it. Plus, and only slightly more importantly, I hadn't viewed any new muppet endeavors since the passing of Jim Henson. I don't care how close they got with Kermit's voice, it wasn't the same voice.
A funny thing happened though, maybe it was the magic of the moment or that I was also enspirited by Walter's dream of getting the muppets back together, but the snarky comments faded on my lips. I let the cynicism drop away and gave the mupets a fresh look and a fresh chance.
This movie was funny and entertaining. It was like putting on a favorite pair of old sneakers that you find while cleaning out the garage. It's like a...rehash of the first muppet movie, but you don't mind. Right?
Okay, I've been all nicey-nicey as long as I can. I had this hope of pulling a fast one on my readers, so she'd be all like, "what? this isn't the eric i've come to know and love!" Except that I used "know" where she actually said "accidentally read" and instead of "love" she actually said, "not hate as much as I thought I would". Gotcha!? (He almost confidently states holding his arms out straight in a way he's seen on television that rascals use to show that you gotta love them.)
Honestly though, I don't take back anything I said about the movie - there is just more to say, and I'll try to stop the snark before it hits because it really is unsolicited.
This movie is not for adults, or at least not for adults that watch it alone. Or watch it without playing the accompanying drinking game. I mean the adults when they are alone. The kids should not play the drinking game, though I suppose that two or more adults together might enjoy the drinking game.
When did Disney but the muppets? Is the Richman character a subtle poke at Disney? If that were the case, the movie just got a whole lot better. It certainly explains the uber-predictability of the movie and it's gags. I will concede that people were not watching this for cutting edge anything and on multiple occassions the muppets themselves make fun of this very fact.
Who knew that Amy Adams could sing? Also that she could dance? Also that if you drink every time she twirls you will get very drunk? Also that she is an Academy Award nominee? Also, that I could keep on going like this? Also, did you think I would add the mandatory extra question to make the previous one predictably funny? Also that by funny I mean not funny except in a groany kind of way? Also that groany is too a word?
Okay, okay, okay. I see the elephant is still in the room. Well, both of them. I didn't hate this movie and parts of it I even liked, sometimes in spite of myself. How could my friend be so wrong on this? Usually, it is that she likes things that I don't not vice versa. And what about my moratorium against the new voice talents? I think I have asked more questions in this post than in any other. I mean, haven't I asked more questions? The voices are not the same. I think I'm okay with that. I think. Here's my rationale - there are two ways to think about Kermit and company. First, and the way I have been thinking about them, Kermit for example is an entity akin to an actor who also happens to play the role of Kermit and is voiced by some guy named Jim, just like Miss Piggy plays the role of Miss Piggy and is voiced by some guy named Yoda, I mean Frank. Or the second way to think about, and the way I am allowing myself to try out this night, Kermit is a role just like Hamlet or Batman, and he just happened to be played by Jim Henson. Other actors will play the role and they will be different but not necessarily bad, though some may be as time goes on. But in years to come people might say, "That Robert Pattinson plays a dashing Kermit, but no one compare to the time I saw Jim Henson play Kermit - he was not acting, he was Kermit." Or something.
Also, if you were playing a drinking game while reading this post, you should be drunk if the game was to drink every time I asked a question. Right? You didn't cheat? Not once? And you were drinking alcohol?
The Muppets at IMDb
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