The Muppets (The Movie)

I know you're all wondering, and yes, I have seen The Muppets. I have an issue with what to call this movie. I always want to refer to it as "the Muppet movie" because it's a movie about Muppets. But it's not The Muppet Movie because that's a different thing entirely. But it sounds weird to talk about watching The Muppets. So instead I mostly refer to it as "the new Muppet movie," which works, I guess. Because it's new and a movie and about Muppets. Flawless logic, I know.

So anyway, The Muppets was a feel-good romp for the entire family. I don't really know what that means. It just seems like the thing to say. I was expecting the worst of this movie because Muppets are a hard thing to do well. Also, I dislike Jason Segel and Amy Adams. There's no reason for this. They just annoy me. So basically, I thought this was going to make my eyes bleed. I'm happy to report I was pleasantly surprised. Also, no blood.

Jason Segel was quite good in this movie. His voice is very pleasant, and he looked like a human Muppet, which was perfect. He still irritates me, but I have to say I have a ton of respect for him. He pretty much made this movie happen. Thank you, sir. Amy Adams was annoying. She didn't do anything particularly annoying. She just annoys me. Otherwise, the humans were awesome. Chris Cooper was hilarious. Rashida Jones is always awesome. And super gorgeous (although I'm still glad Jim ended up with Pam). The cameos were pretty funny for the most part as well. So that's a plus.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. It was really cute, and it actually kept a lot of the Muppets humor, so it was funny too. I was incredibly surprised by that outcome.

The new Muppet, Walter, was stupid. The whole thing where he had to find his talent (spoiler--it's whistling) was lame. Whistling is a super lame talent. Come on, Mr. Segel. Come up with a better talent than that. Seriously. Otherwise, Walter was pretty much just an excuse for the plot to happen, not an actual character. P.S. Apparently it's Andrew Bird whistling at the end. No shit. Not a flute. A real guy.

The best part of the movie, besides Kermit scrunching up his face like he does in The Muppet Movie when he says, "Alligators," was the music. I'm a big fan of Flight of the Concords, and Bret McKenzie did the songs for The Muppets, so I assumed the music would be awesome. Yep. The songs were funny and catchy and totally carried the movie. Again, I have to mention Jason Segel's voice. I was really impressed. He sounded like he actually could sing, not just like an actor singing. However, you should be prepared to be singing Muppets songs for a considerable amount of time after seeing the movie.

So there's my review, sort of. The Muppets' voices were a little weird, but I mostly got over it (except for Miss Piggy--not even close). Also, at the end when they sang "The Rainbow Connection," apparently Miss Piggy played the part of that annoying Hollywood agent from The Muppet Movie. Which is fine and all, but with everyone singing along, I'm unclear on why Hayley Williams didn't have a cameo. Missed opportunity on that one, movie.

There you have it. All in all, a feel-good romp for the entire family. Or whatever cliche you choose.