Muppets Most Wanted!

[PirateLover]

Anyone else excited for this movie?? It premieres March 21st.

I have to give Disney credit... they are really doing an all out media blitz, even more so than what they did with "The Muppets" a few years ago. I was very surprised to see that "Muppets Most Wanted" was the sponsor of the last half hour of the FOX Super Bowl pregame show! There were Muppets in commercials and Muppet appearances at Puppy Bowl... As a long time Muppet fan I am absolutely thrilled by this.

[Kairi_7378]

I am!!!

[PirateLover]

Did you catch them on Jimmy Fallon's last show? They performed "The Weight" by The Band with him. It was perfect. I am so happy to see the Muppets back to themselves. I think Fallon would be an excellent choice to host if they ever do another holiday special.

[SBETigg]

I'm excited. I loved the Muppet Show when it was on. I considered Miss Piggy an inspiration when I was 12. Okay maybe still. I planned my very first Disney trip on my Miss Piggy calendar.

[PirateLover]

Sherri, I think Miss Piggy is a great inspiration! Well, she used to be. I think her character has become somewhat 1-dimensional lately, almost a parody of herself. Back in the Muppet Show days and in the first few movies, she had a bit more depth.

Less than a month to go until the movie!!! Still loving all the tie-ins and promotional videos.

[VWL Mom]

Did you catch them on Jimmy Fallon's last show? They performed "The Weight" by The Band with him. It was perfect. I am so happy to see the Muppets back to themselves.

I saw that and loved it!

I'm looking forward to the release of Muppets Most Wanted. Too bad John Henson (the voice of Sweetums) passed last week and won't get to enjoy the release.

[PirateLover]

I saw it last night and loved it!! The reviews are all over the map but I think I have it figured out-
If you thought Gary and Mary (Jason Seagel and Amy Adams) were the best part of the first movie, you might be disappointed with this one. If you thought the first movie spent a bit too much time on the human characters and not enough time on the actual Muppets, you will love this film. The Muppets (2011) was a love letter to the nostalgia of the characters, a reset for the franchise. I enjoyed that movie a lot and it was perfect for what it was; however, the Muppets themselves do not always need to be warm and fuzzy. Harkening back to the days of The Muppet Show, the Muppets were well known for their zaniness and wacky antics, and you get tons of that in Muppets Most Wanted. The songs are fun, the action is non-stop, and the gags are great. The cameos are also tons of fun! Even a casual fan should be entertained by this movie, but if you are a super fan like me, there is SO MUCH for you to spot! I can't wait to see it again to try to catch things I may have missed the first time around. Also, if you can stay through the credits, do it! They aren't too long... it's not a big scene or anything, but it's cute.

I really hope this movie does well enough to ensure the continued relevancy of Muppets, but I'm already a bit nervous that it's only made $4.5 mil so far on a slow weekend (Divergent is the only other big new release, and they don't really share the same target demographic). I don't expect a new movie every two years, or even the return of a weekly Muppet Show, but I really would like to see the rest of the Muppet catalogue released on DVD (Seasons 4 + 5 of The Muppet Show, Muppet Babies, Jim Henson Hour, Muppets Tonight) and maybe a good special once or twice a year. Some of the best bits in the movie incorporated the format of The Muppet Show, so I really think variety specials in that vein could be fun. If you think you might be interested in this, don't wait! Go see it! And tell everyone you know to go see it!

[Lacy]

We loved the 2011 The Muppets and was excited that they were going to do another one. I'm glad to see PirateLover's review but have heard mostly negative reviews - anyone else here seen it yet?

Based on the negative reviews we've just been planning to wait for the release to video but would like to be swayed to go see it in the theater if others thought it was good and why.

[NJDad]

Well the 140 reviews collected over on Rotten Tomatoes are 78% positive.

[PirateLover]

The negative reviews are stemming mostly from people who can't get over the fact that Segel wasn't involved in this one. Most of the reviews are decent, though, as NJ Dad pointed out it has been "certified fresh" which means that the majority of the reviewers enjoyed it. I will say that if you aren't a fan of the original Muppet Show, it may not appeal to you as much. It's more of a mad-cap, wacky humor type of movie rather than a sentimental heart-warming story that 2011 was. I find the new character Constantine to be so funny. If you go into it just expecting to laugh and realize it's just the Muppets making a goofy movie, I think you will like it. Another criticism I've read is that people couldn't believe none of the gang (aside from Animal) realized that Kermit has been replaced--to me, that's part of the hilarity!
If you have the time, I really do encourage you to see it in the theater. It has had some legs so far but every bit helps.

[tinkwest]

. . . Another criticism I've read is that people couldn't believe none of the gang (aside from Animal) realized that Kermit has been replaced--to me, that's part of the hilarity! . . .

I agree with you on that (and pretty much everything else you've said about this movie). The Muppets would TOTALLY believe that Constantine was Kermit.

We (DH & I) liked it a lot. It was fun. It was silly. It was ridiculous. All the things Muppets should be. And I really enjoyed the Pixar short that preceded it. Monsters University - Party Central.

[NJDad]

The family saw it yesterday and liked it, all enjoyed the previous one more, although the Muppets did warn us right away that sequels are never as good.

Could have easily been a half hour shorter and we all probably would have liked it more.

[PirateLover]

It's the longest Muppet movie by about 10 minutes I believe. With the short in front of it, it does make the entire cinematic experience a bit long for a family film. I agree they probably could've trimmed it a bit more. Glad your family enjoyed it, though.

[PirateLover]

We (DH & I) liked it a lot. It was fun. It was silly. It was ridiculous. All the things Muppets should be. And I really enjoyed the Pixar short that preceded it. Monsters University - Party Central.

We also enjoyed Party Central. DH did a spit take when the wife said "Honey, roll over, you're snoring" since that's every night in our house I did wonder how the whole frat party aspect would go over with families. I saw some complaints about the monsters drinking beer/energy drinks or whatever they were supposed to be and how it sends a bad message. I didn't really think about that angle since we don't have kids.

[BrowncatP]

Saw the movie today. It is the Muppets! I laughed quite a bit. It is silly, just like the old Muppets. With only 4 people in the theater though, it will be leaving soon.