Muppets Most WantedDirected by James BobinScreenplay by Nicholas Stoller and James BobinUSA, 2014 Wa

Muppets Most Wanted
Directed by James Bobin
Screenplay by Nicholas Stoller and James Bobin
USA, 2014

Watched (at the Phoenix Picturehouse, Oxford) on 4th August 2014
First viewing

Muppets Most Wanted follows on directly from the previous muppet movie. In true fourth-wall-smashing fashion, the gang wonders why the cameras are still trained on them when the story’s finished, until they realise they’re doing a sequel. So far so good… but it never lives up to that promise.

The muppets plan to consolidate their success with a world tour, encouraged by their new manager, the ominously-named Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais). Constantine – an evil Russian mastermind frog – escapes from prison and disguises himself as Kermit, so he can plan an elaborate jewel heist to coincide with the international tour dates booked by Dominic, his partner in crime.

Meanwhile the real Kermit, assumed to be Constantine, is imprisoned in a Siberian Gulag guarded by the ever-wonderful Tina Fey. The human cast also includes Jemaine Clement, Ray Liotta and Danny Trejo as Kermit’s fellow inmates, plus Ty Burrell as an interpol agent investigating Constantine and Dominic’s crimes, and an impressive (if indulgent) list of celebrity cameos.

Muppets Most Wanted is an okay muppet movie. There are plenty of laughs, but the film is longer and more densely-plotted than it needs to be. But even an okay muppet movie has plenty to please me – just seeing Kermit and the gang is a joy. A slightly less magical joy now that Jim Henson is no longer the man behind the frog, but a joy nonetheless