Review of The Great Muppet Caper (1981) by Michael D — 14 Feb 2012

I've loved the Muppets since I was very young, and this is probably my favorite of all the movies they made. However what I love even more about the Muppets is the fact that they made me laugh as a kid, but now they still make me laugh as an adult. The movies are all 100% family-friendly but they throw in some humor that is just for the adults as well. A number of TV shows and movies that I loved in my childhood have not aged well with me, but the Muppets feel so timeless.

The best thing about this movie is the way they continuously break the fourth wall for comedic purposes. They make so many jokes by simply slipping in the fact that even the characters realize they are in a movie. Some of the best lines are things like "You can't even sing! You're voice was dubbed!" There is so much great comedy that I can't talk enough about it. Every time I watch I find myself laughing out loud, and afterwards I'm humming the songs as well. The music is fun and fits what you'd typically expect from the Muppets.

Then there's the tremendous cast of actors. Diana Rigg and Charles Grodin are brilliant, but they are almost completely upstaged by all the great cameos. Peter Falk is great, and John Cleese is side-splittingly funny. I could go on and on, but if you look at the list of cameo appearances you can see that they pulled out all the stops. I expect I'm overloading you with superlatives, but that's how excited I get when watching this film. It truly is a "Great" Muppet Caper.