Jim would be proud.
That was my thought that best summarizes, after two days of deliberating how to best say it, the experience I had watching the Muppets.
And..um...if you're reading this at all, you personally know me. If there's one thing that you know about me, it's that I'm really socially awkard. I'm sorry. If there's two things you know about me, it's the aforementioned awkwardness AND my strong admiration of Jim Henson. The latter is why it should be of absolutely NO surprise that I'm writing this post. If you plan on seeing the movie, please enjoy. If you aren't so sure, please let me try to convince you to watch it.
I don't know where to begin, really. Do I start with the brilliant writing? The performances of Jason Segel, Amy Adams, and the rest of the cast and cameos? The very Muppet-esque musical numbers produced by Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Conchords fame)? The familiar yet updated wit in every scene?
How do I explain how much I and every other fan of the Muppets needed this movie? How do I explain that being a fan of the Muppets isn't about thinking foam puppets are cool but about how they bring the best out of each and every one of us?
We've got everything that we need, we can be whatever we wanna be, nothing we can't do, the skies are blue, when it's me and you (and you and you!)
I won't give too much away (despite the fact that what, 4 people are actually going to read this - all of whom have probably already seen the movie) but it's brilliance truly lied in the formatting. Anyone familiar with the original Muppet Show "remembers" the eclectic hosts and performances; silly parodies of contemporary pop culture, the over-the-top musical numbers filled with wit, and those rare but poignant moments that touched our hearts (Bernadette Peters singing "Just One Person" with Robin is always the first to come to mind). The movie follows this format to a T....between laughing so hard I was falling out of my seat there were those few occasions where I teared up and told myself to hold it together.
I won't spoil those moments for you. You'll know them when you see them.
The plot is formulaic and familiar without being trite. The Muppets themselves almost seem to lament their absence from one another and the public eye - this is the first Muppet venture in 12 years, after all. Fourth walls are broken on a regular basis and with my realization in the previous statement, the plot and the characters takes on a new level of meaning for me. Given the grand finale and, well, with the (so far) success of the movie - the Muppets have in a sense managed to go back there someday (see what I did there?).
Except Dr. Honeydew and Beaker at the Large Hadron Collider. Science needs them!
A lot of love clearly went into this project; it's apparent from every aspect that all the major players involved love the Muppets dearly. Watching the movie, you can feel the excitement of being a part of it; from the performances by the actors, the set design, the writing, the music. The timing and energy is that of people involved in something they loved to be a part of and it comes through perfectly. It is the movie that a group of friends with a sense of humor, a Hollywood budget, and something to make the ideal homage to would create - instead of ending up on Youtube, however, it opens with a 97% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
My one complaint (aside from the Cars 2 billboards everywhere) is the lack of Muppet Show regulars that appeared in the old show and movies. However, as I said before, the Muppet Show played on contemporary talent. Perhaps Julie Andrews, Steve Martin, Carol Burnett, Sandy Duncan, Alice Cooper, or John Denver didn't appear (although Alan Arkin of all people DID have a cameo), but Sarah Silverman, Feist, John Krasinski, Neil Patrick Harris, Emily Blunt, Kristen Schaal, Dave Grohl, and Donald Glover did. Well...and Mickey Rooney (maybe he's making a comeback?). My point is that the Muppets are playing by their own rules and I can't really fault them for that simply because I like to be a pop culture hipster (oh, you don't know who Ethel Merman is? What, were you born in the 90's or something?). That being said, I knew the movie was going to be wonderful when the first mention of the original show was the episode with Steve Martin...my favorite episode of all time.
Bret Mckenzie could not have done a more wonderful job with the music (seriously now, go watch Flight of the Conchords and thank me later). The original music is catchy, funny, and sometimes a little bit sad. It's oddly wonderful that for everthing we've come to associate with the Muppets an emotional realism is at the top of the list. "Life's a Happy Song" may just take a place up there with "Rainbow Connection" as a personal anthem for hope - a personal reminder to keep looking up. Kermit and the gang remind us each and every day to be the best people - and Muppets - we can be each and every day. I'm so glad that it never gets old.
I'm sure I'll edit this post heavily down the road when I'm not so stuffed from my Thanksgiving meal (and therefore not in the right frame of mind..so...sleepy...), but long story short: I honestly believe the Muppets succeeded in keeping true to the franchise (although I hate calling it that...it sounds so corporate and everything the Muppets, to me, are not). I believe they suceeded in their comeback although I do not know where they go from here. I just hope they don't wait another decade to give me the third greatest gift (it's laughter, by the way).
The movie touched me (and several of my fellow movie-goers that attended the midnight showing) so much - not just as a fan, or a geek, or an overly emotional person who thinks too much, but as a person leads me back to my original thought.
Jim would have been proud. Even though a different company has ownership of the studio and their names *cough*, his spirit still lives on through this movie. His creations, his most sensational, celebrational, muppetational family still make us laugh, cry, and love, and they proved they CAN do it all again. Yes, he would have been proud.
