The Muppets (2012) - review

Running Time: 103 mins
Directed By: James Bobin
Starring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Kermit the frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie bear, Walter, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones
Screenplay: Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller
UK Release Date: 10th Februrary 2012 - UK

Quick Plot: After being a fan of The Muppets for his whole life, young Walter ventures to LA with his older brother and his girlfriend to experience The Muppets tour! To his dismay, he is greeted by a ghost town and an evil businessman, Tex Richman, who plans on destroying the studio to dig for oil. Walter is determined to bring the gang back together and raise money before Richman gets to the plot.



Review: It's been almost 12 years since a Muppets theatrical release, although it feels as if no time has passed at all! In quite possibly the most feel good film of 2011, The Muppets is entertaining, bright, quirky and a great deal of fun.


It's absolutely glorious to see Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie, Miss Piggy and the rest of the gang back together on screen. There is an abode of unexpected nostalgia surrounding The Muppets from the moment the first song is acted out, causing smiles from the familiar scent of a Manha Manha's and Being Green. In a family movie world surrounded by 3D and CGI, The Muppets is fresh but it does not stray far from the previous franchised films altogether. On screen, the beaming presence from the actors, and matched vibe brought over from the director, make it clear this new Muppets film was crafted by passionate fans of the Muppets legend.

Jason Segel will forever be praised for bringing The Muppets back on the big screen and, better yet, he's grand to watch alongside them. Segel's singing isn't half bad and paired with the ever so delightful, Disney favourite, Amy Adams; they complement each other to give a full hearted performance in musical numbers and their sweet character relationship. But as expected, The Muppets are not over shadowed, being central to all of the attention they do what they do best; sharing the third best gift- laughter. Was that cheesy? Yes. But is it true? Absolutely. New kid on the block Walter has everything that defines a Muppet; a perky mind set, distinctive voice (by Peter Linz) and even a signature song, but it’s Walter’s exhilarating affection which makes him so likable. Children will adore the newcomer as he represents many kids, mostly big kids, across the world as a diehard Muppets fan. It’s a shame the pinnacle of the film for Walter feels unsatisfactory, however gloss that over with the hilarity of his better moments and it’s soon forgiven.

Like any Muppet movie, it's full to the brim of celebrity cameos, which is entertainment enough. Some of the appearances are completely unexpected and there's no other response to seeing them but to laugh. Perfectly timed, perfectly chosen, overall it’s one of the greatest parts of The Muppets. Most of the cameo roles, who are obvious pals of Segel and co., continue to bring light on screen with their appearances (Emily Blunt especially), because their madcap characters are obviously some of the most fun they have endured in a film.

Unsurprisingly, the soundtrack stands as the heart and soul of the entire film. Full of upbeat, cheery tones bringing genuine enthusiasm and fun to the Muppets, it's impossible not to smile at the musical numbers. Then, in the usual Muppet manner, most of the musical numbers delve into comedy- in particular the fantastic 'Am I a Man or a Muppet' performed by Segel and Walter.

The icing on the cake for The Muppets is that collectively it isn’t perfect. There are moments where a few jokes feel repeated and certain characters start to become dull, but as soon as The Muppets starts to feel low it shoots right back on top with an epic musical number, sweet cameo or touching awakening for a character or two.

Fans who have anticipated the return of the Muppets will consequently be overjoyed in this resurrection while unhappy folk who don’t obviously won’t. Remember, Life’s A Happy Song.
4/5

The Muppets trailer

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The Fighter (2011)

Running Time: 116 Minutes
Directed By: David O Russell

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo 

Screenplay: Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson

UK Release Date: 2nd February 2011

Quick Plot: The true story of Micky Ward, a fighter who became a boxing champion in 1980s. Coping with a crack addict brother, overwhelming mother and 9 lazy sisters, Micky has to make a decision about how to get to where he wants to be- the top.

Review: I've come to realise why so far all the films I've reviewed have either 4 or 5 stars. They're all nominated for at least one Oscar if not more (Apart from Never Let Me Go but that was just amazing). So I'm not even going to try and cover up the fact that this film is special. Fighting films aren't something I have a particular interest in but I have seen a fair few. My favourite of which being Raging Bull, but now The Fighter could possibly be my new favourite fighting film. I only realised the incredible story of Micky Ward was based on a true story when it appeared on the screen.

I don't want this review to be long, but I've just got to mention what I loved about this film and that is quite simply Christian Bale and Amy Adams. I've always liked Christian Bale, even when he threw a tantrum on the set of Terminator Salvation- I've always liked him from a young age. I think his ways of acting are tremendous and the amount of time he spends on developing his characters always show. It's obvious he had to loose a lot of weight for this role but to Bale this is not a new regime. Some scenes were heartbreaking, but not in the usual way of automatically making you feel sorry and sad for the characters. You wanted him to get better and you wanted Micky to win the fights because you felt like you knew an awful lot about his family. Dicky (Bale) is your typical crack head (not that I know many crack heads), but everything about him was the perfect performance and he does certainly have a good chance of winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
I like Adams a lot, (especially in Enchanted but we won't go into that) I will have to research it in a minute, but I think she might have had to bulk up a bit for this role. Anyway, I've never seen her play a role like Charlene and I would like it very much if she wins Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars next Sunday too. (But next to Helena Bonham Carter we can't be that sure now can we?)

Would it be totally inappropriate to comment on how extremely gorgeous and attracted I was to Mark Walhberg as Micky Ward? Yes? Ok then, I won't mention it. But Walhberg is fantastic as Micky and even though not nominated for any awards, still does a terrific job.

I've already gone on longer than I hoped but I found
The Fighter brilliant and so enjoyable, but if you dislike blood and don't like Fighting films, you won't enjoy this. Though some could say it's more than your typical Fighting film, it still has the bases of one, so if you simply don't like the look from the trailer you would not enjoy this film.

The real Dicky (left) and Micky.

The Fighter 60 second trailer.

Now I'm feeling extremely happy with the fact I've seen 7 of the 10 Best Picture films for this years Academy Awards and will hopefully see one of the last three in the half term (if not all!)
I don't know why I'm mentioning that but I am.

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