Muppets
Most Wanted - Unnecessarily Extended Edition
(2014/Disney Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
A/B Sound: B/B Extras: B- Film: B
The
Muppets were in hiatus for a while until their brilliant return in
2011's The
Muppets, starring
Jason Segal and Amy Adams. The film proved to be rejuvenating for
The Muppets' franchise with its oddball humor and spot on musical
numbers. The
Muppets was
quirky and got back to the roots of what made The Muppets so
memorable and lovable in the first place; as it treated The Muppets
as living, breathing actors in a real film. It was a film that could
have just as easily been staffed by real human actors. To further
that it had a rock solid script with writers/directors, and actors
who felt The Muppets had been dormant for long enough.
In
The
Muppets Most Wanted, we
have The Muppets going back to their roots (of sorts) again getting
unwittingly mixed up in an international crime caper. The film picks
up where The
Muppets left
off, as Ricky Gervais' character (Dominic Badguy) acts as The Muppets
manager taking them on a European Tour. As could be deduced from his
name Mr. Badguy isn't, well, a good guy. Badguy has an accomplice
named Constantine (an international thief), who bears a stunning
resemblance to Kermit with the exception of a mole on his face. Just
as The Muppets embark on their European Tour, Constantine has escaped
from a Siberian Gulag 38B looking to realign with his partner Dominic
Badguy. As the tour gets off to a frustrating start Kermit goes for
a walk along a foggy canal; when to his surprise Constantine
surprises him with a 'BOO!' simultaneously slapping a mole on
Kermit's face. Kermit is shortly thereafter apprehended and thrown
into the Siberian Gulag. Kermit attempts to prove his innocence, but
guard Nadya (Tina Fey) won't have it; instead convincing him to put
on an epic prison talent show.
The
film has The Muppets traveling Europe, while Dominic and Constantine
rob various institutions; the end game being the Crown Jewels.
Seemingly all of The Muppets are fooled by the ruse with the
exception of Animal who never believed Constantine to be Kermit.
With crime running amuck across Europe Interpol Agent Jean Pierre
Napoleon (Ty Burrell) and Same Eagle of the CIA join forces to crack
the case; each fighting for the film's position of most ridiculous
agent. Eventually the crimes are linked to The Muppets tour path;
but with the gang having no idea of Kermit's absence, things get
messy.
The
film is fun. The
Muppets Most Wanted continues
to infuse many of the elements that make The Muppets so great; but
fails to exactly recapture the success of 2011's The
Muppets.
If the film would have been treated (again) more like a true live
action venture, perhaps it would have fared better; but sadly it
plays too heavily like The Muppets are (the 'p' word) puppets.
The
film does remain hilarious throughout; often times poking fun at the
fact it is a sequel and may not live up to the first one. The
musical numbers by Brett McKenzie are (like the first film) insanely
well done, infusing pop music, comedy, and Broadway together to make
some excellent numbers.
Whereas
I don't think this film is as great as The
Muppets,
it remains awesome and would be happy to see a third film. There are
again a ton of celebrity cameos in various roles that only make the
film all the better. Between the solid comedy, nice writing,
brilliant puppeteering, and memorable voice work (Matt Vogel as
Constantine is insanely good) the film is a success in this
reviewer's opinion.
The
technical features of this new Muppet
film are quite good. The picture, presented in a 1.78 X 1 1080p High
Definition widescreen, is of demo quality as it lights up the screen
with bright colors, detailed images, and deep, inky, framing black
levels. The vivid colors and variety of textures that are The
Muppets are well displayed throughout and again make this a wonderful
presentation. The sound is not quite as 'demo quality' as the
picture in its 7.1 DTS-HD High Resolution Mix; so where's not Master
Audio?! Not here. The 7.1 surround sound mix winds up falling a bit
flat, as (when comparing to the Blu-ray release of The
Muppets)
the surrounds are not as lively, panning effects are lackluster, and
the entire track feels a bit soft/quiet. The explosive personalities
that are The Muppets is lost to a degree here and could use some more
'umph.'
The
DVD is a clear downgrade of the Blu-ray release discussed above.
The
extras are not as 'unnecessarily long' as you would expect for this
Unnecessarily
Extended Edition.
Extras include:
-
Michael P. Dougherty II
