James Bobin
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Connections, in both directions
Now that they are back in the limelight, it's time to start spitballing ideas for a sequel (among them, an existential study of life's greatest conundrums, a 'la Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal").
The inside jokes on offer include references to The Silence of the Lambs, Boyz 2 Men, Danny Trejo, The Spy Who Loved Me, and, most hilariously, The Seventh Seal.
Alongside the more kid-targeted jokes we get some stuff for the adult crowd, too—hello, The Seventh Seal reference.
Featuring clever film references from The Seventh Seal to Silence of the Lambs, writers James Bobin and Nicholas Stoller are smart enough to fill this adventure with references to features that adults will appreciate.
Segel and Adams demonstrate a joyful earnestness in several musical numbers (for what’s a Muppet movie without song and dance?) that could have easily fallen flat, while Cooper’s gleefully villainous portrayal of oil tycoon Tex Richman echoes that of Charles Durning’s turn as frog-legs merchant Doc Hopper in The Muppet Movie (1979).
I am first not entirely convinced of the honesty of the theme: while the plot of The Muppets neatly mirrors its practical function to Walt Disney Pictures, attempting to prove the financial viability of the classic characters with a target audience that was not yet born at the release of their last truly great vehicle, the 1992 picture The Muppet Christmas Carol , it's really not at all the case that Kermit, at least, has been invisible for so long that your average 12-year-old has absolutely no idea who he is, and the film goes even farther by suggesting without saying it outright that the last time anybody cared about the Muppets was at the time of 1979's The Muppet Movie , and that's just plain insanity (The Muppet Show itself stayed on the air until 1981, and it wasn't poor ratings that ended it).
The Bottom Line: "The Muppets" may not have all the magic Henson and Oz brought to the original "Muppet Show" or the equally brilliant "The Muppet Movie," but we'll give Segel et al credit for trying and it's incredibly hard to fully fault a movie with such a terrific finale.
That distinction belongs to the decision by Segel -- who co-wrote the script with Nicholas Stoller (" Get Him to the Greek ") -- to follow the blueprint used in "The Muppet Movie."
I am first not entirely convinced of the honesty of the theme: while the plot of The Muppets neatly mirrors its practical function to Walt Disney Pictures, attempting to prove the financial viability of the classic characters with a target audience that was not yet born at the release of their last truly great vehicle, the 1992 picture The Muppet Christmas Carol , it's really not at all the case that Kermit, at least, has been invisible for so long that your average 12-year-old has absolutely no idea who he is, and the film goes even farther by suggesting without saying it outright that the last time anybody cared about the Muppets was at the time of 1979's The Muppet Movie , and that's just plain insanity (The Muppet Show itself stayed on the air until 1981, and it wasn't poor ratings that ended it).
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Directed by Tim Burton
influenced Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
Visuals
More likely to inspire thoughts of Michael Bay than Lewis Carroll, this sequel to Tim Burton’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland borrows sparingly from the Carroll novel with the same title, opting instead to use Linda Woolverton’s confused and incoherent story as its basis.
It was surprising to be reminded that it’s been six years since Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland,” which makes you think maybe there wasn’t an urgent need for a sequel.
Alice in Wonderland and Tim Burton seemed like a perfect match of source material and director, but the film that resulted in 2010 was a disappointment – lacking a sense of magic, and ultimately forgettable.
Six years after Tim Burton put a trippy spin on Alice in Wonderland , the mediocre sequel (*½ out of four; rated PG; in theaters Friday) matches the original’s hypercolor palette and insane visuals, though it can’t cobble together an equally engaging plot or even a coherent one.
“Alice Through the Looking Glass,” the sequel to the 2010 smash “Alice in Wonderland,” is a time-hopping turkey, dressing up predictable themes of forgiveness and the inability to change the past in an overly busy visual design that aims to distract from the lack of imagination on screen.
Return to Oz (1985)
Directed by Walter Murch
influenced Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
Themes
Returning to an era when family features weren't afraid to be a little scary, "Alice Through the Looking Glass" reminds on more than one occasion of 1985's notoriously freaky Disney sequel "Return to Oz."
It's awfully easier to wish that the film could be a bit more of its own thing and a bit less "wow, isn't it wonderful how we all came into the theater already loving the Muppets so much?", but it is a far better thing than their last theatrical vehicle, 1999's Muppets from Space (though it's hard to imagine what wouldn't be, outside of a feature-length video of Segel lighting the puppets on fire and then urinating on the ashes), and that's worth at least a little bit of something.
There's some truth in that observation; this is the first Muppet movie since " Muppets From Space " (1999), and there wasn't exactly a clamor for a revival.
The first bigscreen outing for the colorful crew since Muppets from Space in 1999 and since Disney acquired the franchise from the Jim Henson estate in 2004, this perfectly enjoyable family comedy is disarmingly upfront about its raison d'etre—to reboot the Muppets for a new generation of moppets.
While Dora and the Lost City of Gold doesn’t reach the fourth-wall breaking heights of Deadpool, Enchanted, or even the underrated and to-this-day misunderstood Josie and the Pussycats movie, the tone fits this version of the character well.
Pulling off this tricky feat at the center of it all is the actress playing Dora herself, the magnetic Isabela Moner, whose performance is reminiscent of Amy Adams’ thoroughly delightful work in “Enchanted.”
The result is a cross between Donkey from the Shrek series and Amy Adams’ Giselle in Enchanted .
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
influenced Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019)
Plot
Taking cues from everything from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to National Treasure , Dora and the Lost City of Gold is an immensely satisfying adventure.
The phrase “most remarkable” here is meant to imply that Dora becomes either a loving homage or a straight-up rip-off of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
As usual in modern family fare, there are a few too many scatological gags, and the climax won’t fool anyone who’s ever seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade .
…with the characters feeling in a bit of a similar boat to The Muppets in 2026. Still hugely beloved by older fans, but with limited opportunity to gain new ones.
There is a saying that human performers acting with The Muppets need to decide if they are Muppets or if the Muppets are serious actors…
What follows is a mostly entertaining, sometimes goofy and often funny road trip flick that combines elements from the original film (actually most of them and the TV show) with the plot of "The Blues Brothers" (needing to reassemble the band to raise money to save a building via a big concert at the end).
If you've seen "The Blues Brothers," you're familiar with the plot of "The Muppets."
But it’s a thrill meeting each Muppet member again, who, like The Blues Brothers, are in various hilariously reduced circumstances.
Gary, Mary and Walter track down Kermit, living by himself in a Bel Air mansion straight out of "Sunset Boulevard."
Cue the movie’s best 20 or so minutes, in which the travelers visit, in turn, Kermit the Frog (voiced by Steve Whitmire), who’s living in a decrepit, Sunset Boulevard-style Hollywood mansion; Fozzie Bear (voiced by Eric Jacobson), who’s performing in a sketchy Muppets tribute band in Reno; and Miss Piggy (also voiced by Jacobson), who, in an inspired detail, is now the plus-size editor for French Vogue.
The world of Fantasia contains creatures inspired by Alice in Wonderland (a little man atop a racing snail), " The Muppets " (a cute dragon-dog that can fly), and probably B.C. (a giant made of stone, who snacks on quartz and rumbles around on his granite tricycle).
After some character comedy at his brother-in-law Paulie’s depressing birthday party — Rocky and Adrian give Paulie a robot with an A.I. capacity decades ahead of its time, an odd detour into science fiction that apparently inspired Kermit’s “80s robot” in The Muppets — we meet our villain, Drago.
National Treasure (2004)
Directed by Jon Turteltaub
influenced Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019)
Plot Visuals
It’s reminiscent of adventure franchises like Indiana Jones and National Treasure as our heroes decipher clues in pursuit of the end goal.
Taking cues from everything from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to National Treasure , Dora and the Lost City of Gold is an immensely satisfying adventure.
The Indiana Jones-style high jinks that ensue don’t quite have the visual verve or breakneck pacing of a “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” or even a “National Treasure,” but they’re invigorated by the film’s cheekiness.
The movie is relatively weak in this department, serving up “National Treasure”-esque riddles and “Goonies”-like water slides for kids too young to have seen those movies.
The Muppets will be preceded, at least initially, by a new, eight-minute Toy Story short in which the neglected toys engage in very amusing group therapy.
Distracted by the brand-new Pixar (which contributes a cute “Toy Story” cartoon here), they let the fuzzy veterans disappear in a fog of benign neglect.
Playing ahead of the film is another "Toy Story" short from Pixar, this one involving Buzz Lightyear and a support group for Happy Meal toys.
From start to finish, the movie is a healthy, dizzy dose of childlike bliss, the songs campy but catchy, the humor corny but clever, the cast -- both human and Muppet -- one of the most lovable gangs you'll ever spend time with at the pictures (another lovable gang, the "Toy Story" playthings, star in a short animated charmer that precedes "The Muppets").
A new Pixar short, "Small Fry," a " Toy Story " tale in which Buzz Lightyear inadvertently finds himself sitting in on a Discarded Toys support group, precedes the feature proper.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Directed by Lana Wachowski
influenced by Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
A montage of his waking nightmares plays along to the tune of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”, inspired by Alice Through the Looking Glass , which Priyanka Chopra’s character—an easy guess for viewers of the sequels—reads in the corner espresso stop.
The whole thing is ultimately too in awe of its own characters, respecting them without pushing them, to feel as fresh and sharp as The Muppet Movie; but it compares tolerably well to the early sequels The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan ; none of the new filmmakers have Henson's gift for being embarrassingly earnest without coming across as treacly, and there are a lot of places where the movie suffers from an acute attack of the sweets.
Meanwhile, its most receptive demographic consists of adults who probably want something a bit more knowing than, say, The Great Muppet Caper.
The most recent previous feature film in the series, "Muppets in Space," dates to 1999, but the golden era of the Muppets probably ended 30 years ago, in 1981, when the second movie, "The Great Muppet Caper," was released, and the syndicated "The Muppet Show" -- closer to "The Carol Burnett Show" than to any so-called children's program -- went off the air after five seasons of satire, spoofery, slapstick, shtick, songs and guest stars.
A frisky new film showcasing some old pals made out of felt, charm and some kind of genius, the Disney release "The Muppets" overcomes a jaded streak reflecting its makers' nervousness about selling Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and the gang to an audience unfamiliar with "Sesame Street" (a Muppets chapter conspicuously left out of Disney's production notes) or "The Muppet Show" or the best of the earlier feature-length films, "The Great Muppet Caper" being my favorite.
Then again, the film doesn’t hesitate to just let Swiper walk like a human (since he walks like that in the show), so it falls into a strange middle ground that reminds me of Space Jam .
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz is a shockingly terrible adaptation of L. Frank Baum's legendary novel featuring Ashanti as Dorothy and the Muppets as various characters (eg Kermit is the Scarecrow, Gonzo is the Tin Man, Fozzie Bear is the Cowardly Lion, etc), with the proceedings augmented by several utterly forgettable musical numbers.
It’s too bad, as there is a lot of awesome talent on display, from great voice actor Bill Barretta (many of the roles in a variety of Muppet films and series, including the 2011 The Muppets ), as Philips; to Maya Rudolph ( Mr. Pig ), as Philips’ devoted secretary, Bubbles; to Melissa McCarthy ( Spy ), as Detective Connie Edwards, that old partner; plus many others.