Film Diary 2012 - The Muppets (From The Argus)

Film Diary 2012 - The Muppets

11:25am Tuesday 14th February 2012 in Blogs By Owain Paciuszko - Seat 13

I remember watching The Muppet Show on re-runs as a kid, I remember my parents weren't too keen on it, but I loved its silly, anarchic and yet innocent sense of humour. Jim Henson's work pervaded my childhood, whether it was the mystical and wondrous fantasy The Dark Crystal, the delightfully dark The Storyteller or the cult classic Labyrinth. Beyond any sense of rose-tinted nostalgia the wonder of Jim Henson's work has endured for me, these films don't hold up because I observe them through rose-tinted spectacles, but, instead there's is a palpable sense of imagination and magic that can be found in all of Henson's work, and even the work beyond his sad death in 1990, aged 53. His legacy has lived on in the delightful creature work seen in such films as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Where The Wild Things Are or even in the bold children's fantasy Mirrormask, directed by Dave McKean.

However, The Muppets now exist outside of the Jim Henson world, they were sold to Disney in 2004. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think this film was made with corporate cynicism, in fact, there's a very generous and loving spirit at the core of this movie, and plenty of the original Muppet performers are still on board such as Steve Whitmire and Dave Goelz, however, there's something lacking from this film and that is the 'magic' that I referred to earlier.

For me there are two defining moments from any of the earlier Muppet movies made during Henson's lifetime, those are the scene - oft repeated - of the Muppets riding bicycles, in The Muppet Movie it was Kermit and Piggy and then in The Great Muppet Caper it was a whole fleet of Muppets. This scene is such a simple technical wonder, the performers would control the puppets from a crane rigged to travel along with the bicycles creating the illusion of cycling Muppets. There is no moment in the new Muppet movie that, without show-boating, celebrates puppetry in such a humble yet giddy fashion as this, the joy of those shots in the original films were a suspension of disbelief in which we could let go of such 'grown up' shackles and, for a silly second, believe that the Muppets were real, well, as real as any other Hollywood actor.

The second defining moment is at the end of The Muppet Movie where during the finale a rainbow breaks through the roof of the film studio and shines down on the Muppets, we begin on a close-up of Kermit's face as he begins singing; "Life's like a movie, write your own ending, keep believing, keep pretending. We've done just what we set out to do. Thanks to the lovers, the dreamers, and you." and the camera pulls back and back revealling a huge crowd of Muppets (performers actually included film directors John Landis and Tim Burton). For me, what's striking about this moment is the message, encouraging the audience to have their own imagination, to be creative, to go out there and do anything they want, it's simple and touching in a very peculiar and sweet fashion, encapsulating one of Jim Henson's philosophies so succinctly and innocently.

So, now I've rambled on about the original Muppet movies I should probably get around to the new one.

This film is clearly a passion project for Jason Segel, in his film Forgetting Sarah Marshall his character performed a Muppet-influenced Dracula musical, and when he was given an opportunity to pick his next project a Muppet movie was the first thing that leapt to mind. Segel's love for the Muppets comes through on screen, he seems to be having a great time, but he has the generosity to take a back seat to the Muppets themselves, in fact, I was surprised by how little screen time Segel has in the film and, after the film's first act, when he is on screen he's usually just stood in the background while the Muppets take centre stage. Which is exactly how it should be!

The script, written by Segel and Nicholas Stoller, is a nice juggling act of post-modernism, goofy jokes, a few homages to Muppet history, some sly nods to the Muppet's 'fall' from pop cultural significance, and bittersweetness as Kermit agrees to get the gang back together for a telethon to save the ailing Muppet studios and theatre. There are a number of witty songs penned by Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords, my personal favourites being the opening number Life's A Happy Song and a rather unexpected rap. Meanwhile James Bobin's direction ranges from suitably colourful and innocent to plain and incompetent, and whilst no Muppet movie has ever been known for its auteurism it's a shame that certain musical numbers don't fly because of slightly flacid camera choices and some parts of the narrative fall flat thanks to wobbly editing and a somewhat muddled piece of scripting, perhaps not entirely Bobin's fault, but it's a shame that the film's finale isn't quite the uplifting and joyous experience it very nearly could have been, with some parts feeling awkwardly ham-fisted and crowbarred in just to tick a box.

Overall though the film is a success, it's light and silly with much of that unique Muppet spirit that paid homage to old school vaudeville and ambition over execution. Wisely the human plot is a background detail to the main Muppet action, which is primarily an excuse to briefly introduce all the key players in a fashion that may zip over the heads of kids unfamiliar with these characters, but it's bright and goofy enough that it'll entertain across the board, and, perhaps that's what's most refreshing about this film that - despite a few too many contemporary pop culture nods - it's an un-cynical and sweet-natured film, enough so that you can excuse most of its flaws and come out grinning, which is really, all the Muppets ever strive for.

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here