Film Review: ‘We’re Doing a Sequel’

Note: this article was also published on Neon Tommy (link no longer active).

Muppets Most Wanted, written by James Bobin & Nicholas Stoller; directed by James Bobin. Copyright 2014: seen March 21, 2014

There’s a lot to be nervous about going into to Muppets Most Wanted. As the opening number which tears down the fourth wall with abandon states, it’s a sequel, and “everybody knows the sequel is never quite as good.” Neither Amy Adams nor Jason Segel came back for the sequel. Instead we get Ricky Gervais and Tina Fey, who have a completely different style of comedy and could potentially upstage the movie as a result.

However, writers James Bobin & Nicholas Stoller, who also had written The Muppets, don’t forget what made that movie such a hit, and follow it up with a sequel that is surprisingly well-done.

Taking place immediately after The Muppets, the ragtag group is trying to figure out what to do next and run across Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais), who suggests they do a world tour. Add in “the world’s most dangerous frog” Constantine (who, of course, bears a striking resemblance to our erstwhile hero Kermit the Frog), who switches places with Kermit in order to do a National Treasure-style series of heists that lead up to an attempt to steal the crown jewels (including a clue that states “How to Steal the Crown Jewels”). Meanwhile, Kermit‒‒mistaken for Constantine‒‒is taken to a gulag (prison) in Siberia, maintained by Nadya (Tina Fey), and proceeds to do what he’s known for and helps the prisoners along with their in-house talent show while he figures out a way to escape. Finally, the various thefts grab the interest of CIA agent Sam the Eagle and Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon (Ty Burrell), who are also searching for The Lemur, an international thief. This all then comes together in a finale that involve a helicopter and a wedding.

Yes, the plot is ridiculous. In addition, the various locations, from Hollywood to Russia, are all fairly broad (and somewhat dated) stereotypes, from the prison that looks like a reject from The Dirty Dozen to a Hollywood that looks like it’s still stuck in the ’40s. And there are one or two jokes that are really low brow (from the poop joke to the Usher pun), even for the Muppets. But that’s kind of the point. What makes the Muppets the Muppets is that they take the various tropes of Hollywood and storytelling and just have fun with it.

Ricky Gervais (who I admit I’m not a big fan of) wins me over with a song and dance number as only could happen in a Muppet movie. We get treated to a version of the theme song from The Muppet Show in two different languages (besides English, that is). And one of the song and dance numbers in the prison, the opening number from The Chorus Line with cameo prisoners that include Danny Trejo and Ray Liotta, had me laughing so hard I had to cover my mouth so as to not disturb fellow movie goers.

The songs, written once again by Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie, are well done. Constantine’s “I’ll Get You What You Want (Cockatoo in Malibu)”‒‒being the most in the style of Flight of the Conchords‒‒is a bit disturbing, and not in a Muppets way, as we watch Constantine spread Vaseline on the camera as he wears a polyester disco-stye outfit as he sings to Miss Piggy. However, “The Casa Grande” and “Interrogation Song” are typical (in a good way) Muppet-style songs.

My only complaints are minor ones: while they reference the fact that this is actually the seventh sequel to the original The Muppet Movie, and the end song is a redoing of “Together Again” from The Muppets Take Manhattan, there could have been a bit more of an acknowledgement to these original movies (especially as Manhattan also ends in a wedding, and The Great Muppet Caper involves a jewel theft in London). In addition, the end credits could have done a better job acknowledging the cameos, as there were a few I didn’t quite recognize, half the fun of a Muppet movie is the cameos.

While sequels are always a bit of a gamble, Muppets Most Wanted ends up paying off. It’s funny and sweet and ridiculous in all the right Muppety ways.

Watch the trailer below, and be sure to show up early enough to catch the “Monsters University” short before the movie.