The Muppets - Tow Jockey Five Second Review

Bah. I loved this film. I remember having a really great time when I saw this.

Man or Muppet

I'm not saying you can't have a good time watching Lynyrd Skynyrd perform at the 2012
State Fair but it isn't going to be like seeing the real Lynyrd Skynyrd of 1973.

The Muppets felt like second players in the film. I think Jason Segel's intentions were sincere, but the focus was more on him and Amy Adams than on the traditional Muppet personalities.

I liked the Swedish Chef quoting Scarface though. That was worth the rental fee on Amazon.

S.

Fuck you for not liking this. I had a big dopey grin on my face from start to finish, except for when they did "Rainbow Connection," I stopped grinning to roll a tear because I cry over everything these days.

Yeah, really. Why do you hate Kermit the Frog you inhuman monster?

They TOTALLY riffed on it being like "getting the band back together"...it was worth the price of admission to see Kermit's destitute mansion and 80's Robot. Or Rowlf's pitiful post-Muppet Show gig.

On the Rainbow Connection...my god, I just bawl when that song comes on at any time. I bawled when Paul Williams did it on Yo Gabba Gabba too..."Mr. Williams? Will I find the Rainbow Connection too?" "Oh, I think we all will someday."

*SOB*

That's one of my points. When they bust out Rainbow Connection it just shows how shitty and hollow all the other songs in the movie are. Williams is/was a great song writer. What unholy focus group composed the other songs in this movie? A soulless Disney focus group, that's who.

"Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers, and me." I remember those lines and that song from 30 odd years ago.

Is anybody going to remember "I'm a muppet of a man" two weeks after seeing this movie? Other than Hatchling whose own soul is twisted, no.

Also I don't like the idea of the muppets being bums, sell outs, and recluses. Then the only way they can keep their studio from being taken over is by having a telethon? WTF was that? It's a complete downer.

In The Muppet Movie they were dreamers who wanted to make it by virtue of their talent. They face obstacles but eventually they succeed by believing in themselves and working hard. It's up beat all the way. Totally different vibe and it really encapsulates Hensen's outlook and why he was awesome.

Also, the Kermit in The Muppets is a bit too whiny for my liking. The real Kermit could be sweet and sensitive but he could also be a sarcastic ball buster and had something of a temper.

Oh and fuck the asshole who decided to insert We Built This City by Starship into the soundtrack. Fuck that person straight to the depths of hell.

My wife and I watched this with the kids a few weeks back and we were completely underwhelmed although the kids *seemed* to enjoy it enough.

Yeah, I'm with you Repoman.

This was my favorite movie of 2011.

It's hard to say you're wrong for not liking the movie, considering they couldn't even get Frank Oz to go along with the script, but I thought the movie was pretty faithful to the Muppets I remembered.

I agree that none of the songs matched the greatness of The Rainbow Connection, but that song is a classic that's pretty much head and shoulders above any other Muppet song, past or present. Most of the songs were written by Bret McKenzie from Flight of the Conchords, so they definitely weren't written by a focus group. I don't think the Amy Adams / Miss Piggy number or the Chris Cooper rap worked very well, but I thought the rest of the original songs were equal of older stuff like Happiness Hotel from The Great Muppet Caper.

It was the best kid’s movie that year. That's not saying a lot but I'd love to see more of this anyway. Personally I was never a huge fan of the movies in general as I found the sketch comedy style of the show was much better suited to the Muppets as performers than a movie could ever be so I don't think this movie is any worse than the previous ones, none of which I thought were nearly as great as the show could, on occasion, be. Being roped in to the show happening over an hour and a half with one consistent plot is a huge constraint on what is possible.

The idea of treating this as a movie where dreamers rely on their talents to succeed is insane since the franchise is so old and forgotten now. I feel like they really had no choice but to frame it the way they did. As people who have changed a great deal from what we remember and that would include all the directions they could have gone.. sell outs, bums, recluses... and other directions as well. It wasn't all negative. Now the band has to get back together... how else do you explain the obscenely long hiatus?

I liked Muppet of a Man, it was a fun song, I especially liked the Barber Shop quartet of Nirvana while Jack Black was kidnapped for their telethon. The Muppets themselves were all great and the young new Muppet who feels out of place and longs to belong in the only place where he can belong was great too.

It’s a kid’s movie, and not just that, a kid’s movie based on a franchise that many of us have a huge nostalgic attachment to. That’s really hard for any writer to work around and bound to cause some negative feelings. There is no way it could live up to any expectations you have if you carry around too much baggage about that. Of course it goes without saying that if you didn’t like it that much to begin with the film won’t change much for you. It’s almost the same Muppets we remember from our youth.

I enjoyed it, plenty of the third greatest gift you can give.

Sam