Muppets Most Wanted | James Bobin | March 21, 2014
The Muppets are back in full force is Muppets Most Wanted the sequel to 2011’s The Muppets. Director James Bobin returns once again for the sequel, bringing all the Muppets, including new addition Walter, to the sequel with him. Only this time around there is no Jason Segal or Amy Adams around to charm us. They are replaced by Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell and Tina Fey. While I like all three of those actors (Gervais and Fey quite a bit), the presence of Segal and Adams is surely missed, leaving Muppets Most Wanted feeling like a somewhat lesser sequel without nearly as much heart.
The film picks up where the last one left off, as the gang is figuring out the next step after their big show. A new mysterious agent named Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) shows up wanting to bring them on tour as their manager, eager to throw them on tour right away in the biggest of theaters. Kermit is against this as he wants the gang to hone in their live show before bringing it to wider audiences, but he also sees something fishy about Badguy’s intentions. Unfortunately, the rest of his Muppet gang are too enamored by Badguy to see past his evil charm.
We soon learn that Badguy works for a dangerous criminal named Constantine who has escaped from a Siberian Gulag prison and has grand plans to steal the valuable Crown Jewels. Constantine just happens to look just like Kermit, minus the mole on his face. After frustration with the way things are going with his friends and the tour, Kermit goes out for a stroll in Berlin, but is jumped by Constantine who puts a fake mole on Kermit’s cheek, and covers up his. Kermit is then arrested and sent off to the Gulag to take Constantine’s place. Meanwhile Constantine assumes Kermit’s role on tour, amazingly to the notice of almost no one but Walter, who can’t help but notice something is off about Kermit. This goes for Miss Piggy, who is stumped when this new Kermit is fine with marrying her, after she had been trying to get Kermit to marry her for so many years.
While in prison Kermit meets Nadya (Tina Fey) who is the head of the Gulag that Kermit is sent to, and who uses his presence there to help her set up her in prison theater show. Other inmates include Ray Liotta, Danny Trejo, and Jemaine Clement. Then you have Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleo (Ty Burrell) and CIA Agent Sam Eagle work together to try and catch the Crown Jewel thief, with their suspicions pointed towards the Muppets.
While the human interactions with The Muppets are fine, it’s not the same without Segal and Adams. Their presences are duly missed. The film throws in plenty of other surprise cameos to try and make up for it, but the heart of the first film isn’t to be found anywhere, and I thought the film suffered without this same charm. This goes to Bret McKenzie as well, whose songs are still charming and enjoyable, but don’t quite hit the same highs of the previous film.
Don’t get me wrong, Muppets Most Wanted is still a very much enjoyable second effort. It just doesn’t hit as many highs as I would have hoped.
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