The critics weren’t quite as in love with this movie as they were with the Jason Seigel starring The Muppets a couple years back, and it didn’t do nearly as well at the box office either. So, naturally, I liked it a little bit better…
What Works: Whether you think Muppets Most Wanted or The Muppets is better is largely a matter of taste, but I’ll choose Tina Fey as a Russian prison guard, Ty Burell as a lazy Interpol agent, and Ricky Gervais robbing people in a lemur suit every time. Sure, Seigel let be known that the muppets get him hard in the morning, but all that ultra-fan passion actually overwhelmed me while watching the too-earnest Muppets a few years back. This one is (to me) funnier and lighter on its feet. I’ll choose a crime caper with prison breaks, meta-jokes (like the one pointing out that the newest muppet may be kind-of unnecessary), and jewel heists.
What Doesn’t Work: Well something’s clearly not clicking with families since they weren’t having too good a time with it this weekend and interest isn’t high. Maybe it’s all the competition from the inexplicably popular Mr. Peabody and Sherman but I also think it’s the film’s more “European” tone since long stretches are set in fancier European locations than the Kansas families may care about. Then there’s the Siberian prison sequences (which are funny and winning) but maybe too drained of color to appeal to smaller kids.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Some of the celebrity cameos (like Christoph Waltz and Saorise Ronan) aren’t even given any dialogue, and the film really doesn’t utilize them properly.