James Bobin

Three fans reunite the Muppets.

Charming and hilarious. Not surprisingly, it often feels like a Muppet episode of Flight of the Conchords. But that's okay - that's a good fit for the Muppets. It's loaded with nostalgia and references to The Muppet Show, so much so that much of the movie might go completely over the head of a non-fan. And the character development is more mature than it's been in any of the earlier Muppet movies. The children in the theater where we saw it were clearly bored. show more But screw them, the Muppets were always meant to be for adults, and now they finally are. I'm impressed that Disney let the film-makers make their own movie; apart from a couple (very brief) out-of-place cameos by child stars, there's not any overt sign of this being a Heavily Marketed Product.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: A
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: B

Enjoyment: A plus

GPA: 3.4/4

(Nov. 2013) show less

A New Zealand band/comedy duo try to make it in New York.

Some episodes are dumb. Others are doubled-over-and-crying-from-laughter funny. (Not surprisingly, the episodes in the latter category are all written by the show's creators. You have to wonder what they were thinking, handing a show like this show over to other writers.)

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: A
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: B

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 2.5/4

Nowhere near as good a film as the previous installment, but a solid return to the Muppets' trademark variety humour, with lots of brilliant little bits throughout the film. Especially the Ty Burrell/Sam Eagle two-hander is amazing in virtually every frame of film.

Jewel thieves use the Muppets as a cover.

We left the theater debating whether this movie or Muppet Treasure Island is worse. In retrospect, that was grossly unfair to Treasure Island.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: D
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: C
Acting: C
Music: B

Enjoyment: C

GPA: 1.8/4