What's it all about? Walter and Gary are brothers, though Gary is a human being and Walter is a Muppet. Walter & Gary discover The Muppet Show as children and grow up to be massive fans. On a trip to California with Gary's long term girlfriend Mary, they visit the Muppet Studios and are saddened to find them run down and all-but abandoned. Walter overhears a conversation between unscrupulous oil prospector Tex Richman and his henchman, when he reveals that if the Muppets cannot raise $10m within the next week to buy back the studio, he will be able to raze it to the ground and dig for oil. Walter and Gary must set about reuniting the Muppets for one big fundraising show, before time runs out for good on the Muppets.What's it like? Goodness me. The last genuinely decent Muppet film was their take on A Christmas Carol and that was the best part of two decades ago. Since then the quality of the product has dropped off and so has the profile of the releases. Since Muppets in Space, TV movies and Christmas specials have been all there is, until star and co-writer Jason Segel (Gary) decided to try his hand at rescusitating the beloved felt puppets. And what a rescusitation it is. Segel, along with director James Bobin really get the Muppets, really understand what makes them special. What we get then is a suitably and delightfully knock-about round-up of the Muppets, some charming and funny song and dance numbers, an utterly chaotic show featuring talentless but guileless Muppets and all of our favourites chipping in.
The reason why it works so well is precisely because of its understanding of the charm of the original series - no-one knows what they are doing, Fozzie's jokes are terrible, Gonzo's death-defying feats never work, the songs make you laugh, cry and cheer, the show is a shambles but everyone staggers through to the end, the villain is silly and fundamentally harmless, Miss Piggy is prissy and feisty and Kermit holds everything together.
Crucially, the script, songs and performances never make fun of the Muppets or become too arch or knowing. There are occasional tongue in cheek, "we know this is a movie" moments (Gary hands Mary some broken flowers, "sorry, they must have been damaged during that song and dance number we just did") but they are affectionate and in keeping with the grandest traditions of Jim Henson. Some of the traditional voice artists are missing (Frank Oz is a noticeable absentee), but their replacements slot in seamlessly and there is perfect continuity in terms of character traits and tone in relation to the Muppets.
Ultimately this is a return to form of breath-taking quality. There was no reason to expect that The Muppets would be this good, but it really is. Wonderful for the young, nostalgic and heart-warming for the old(er), a perfect film for the family.
Should I see it? Yes, yes, yes. It will perhaps appeal even more to those
who grew up with The Muppet Show than your children who are coming to it either later in the day, or off the back of lesser-quality TV specials. There is nothing even remotely rude or offensive here, no "adult" jokes to keep the grownups happy. Instead, the film-makers understand what Pixar understand, namely that funny is funny, however old or young you are. I spent at least half of the film in floods of tears and well up now, every time I think of Kermit's hearfelt rendition of Rainbow Connection. The rest of the film was spent wearing a beaming smile. See it as soon as possible and take as many people with you as you can. An utter joy from start to finish.