Review of The Muppet Movie (1979) by Kenny S — 01 Jul 2009

So this is how the Muppets started out, unless you've seen The Muppets Take Manhattan in which a different, yet suspiciously similar, series of events launch them into the big time.

It opens in a cinema, screening the film we are about to watch, and it is all very funny. However, the film itself is less entertaining. Sure, there is a lot of witty dialogue, and the humour veers between deadpan and cartoony with genius, while the puppetry, as ever, is very impressive, but, well, the plot is a bit dull. And the songs are a bit lame, and the cameos are hit and miss (I liked Steve Martin's angry waiter, but could do without everyone else) and the ending is pretty pants. Also, very few of the muppets are actually in it, and it never really goes anywhere.

I like Kermit a lot, but I guess a film needs to be about more than him and Fozzie Bear driving to Hollywood and taking ages to get there.