Last year a new Muppet movie came out.
It was a work of love by Jason Segel and other Muppet fans to revive the beloved franchise that was pretty much dead before this movie got greenlit.
Pretty much everyone loved the movie,including me.
However i find myself loving the movie way more than others mostly because of how smart i find the script and music to be.
This will not be a traditional review because i will not talk about the humor and the acting since i have nothing to say that hasn't been said already: it's fantastic.
I will basically talk about the script and all the important scenes explaining why i think they're brilliant.
I will be skiping the comedic scenes since those shouldn't need reviewing by this point. Well here we go.
The movie starts with a flashback scene explaining the life story of 2 brothers: Gary(Jason Segel) and Walter(A muppet by Peter Linz):
Since these are new characters that play a significant role in the plot it makes sense to establish their story and motivation right away.
Of course,one who thinks deeper will pretty much see that this is also an alegory for Jason Segel's childhood.
Jason Segel grew up worshiping the Muppets and was heartbroken to see that they were forgotten by the world.
Right off the bat you can see that it's Segel's most personal script.
After that we see the first musical number "Life's a Happy Song" which is delightful and very muppety,but more importantly it quckly tells us what the brothers do together daily and establishes Gary's 10 year relationship with a woman called Mary(Amy Adams).
Mary is sad that Gary doesn't give him enough attention but she's hoping that Gary will finally ask her to marry him soon.
This subplot apparently seems to have nothing to do with the Muppets but will later be revealed to be a significant part of a grander thing later on.
After that we see our 3 new characters arrive at the Muppet Studios and find it to be completely empty.
Walter finds out that soon the studios will change owners in 2 weeks unless the Muppets can raise 10 million dollars.
The new owner Tex Richman(Chris Cooper) wants to wreck down the studio so he can drill for oil.
Our 3 new characters decide to look for Kermit. After much searching they find him and tell him about it.
We find out that Kermit is very depressed and we find out why in this second musical number "Pictures In My Head":
It is here that we find out what this movie is: A kids adaptation of "Sunset Boulevard".
For those that don't know that's an old movie about a man that helps a long forgotten movie star from decades ago come back from retirement to return to her well deserved place in the spotlight. Sounds familiar right? Not to mention that the idea that nobody cares about the Muppets anymore is absolutely heartbreaking for any fan.
Fortunately Walter manages to convince Kermit to at least try.
After some funny scenes the Muppets reunite,find a network willing to air the telethon,clean up the studio theater and rehearse some new acts.
The only problem they run into is Miss Piggy who refuses to come back because after Kermit divorced her she made a life for herself in Paris.
She is still hurt that Kermit keeps saying things like "We need you". She knows Kermit still thinks more about the gang then her.
"You can't even say i need you, can you?". Segel's knack for heartfelt romantic comedy writing does wonders in giving the relationship depth and realism.
You know other romcom writers are terrible when Segel manages to make love between a frog and a pig feel more real and sad then most human relationships.
She later changes her mind and returns temporarily until it's over but there's a problem: the network boss only agreed to air it if they got a celebrity host.
Kermit can't find someone who's willing to do it, so he tries appealing to Tex Richman's heart by asking to not go ahead with his plan.
He of course refuses which makes Kermit give up,convinced that it's no use. Miss Piggy takes over and comes up with a plan.
Afterwards Gary is wondering why Mary is mad at him and remembers that he forgot their anniversary.
Meanwhile Walter is feeling divided between his life with Gary and Kermit's offer to join the Muppets and perform in the Telethon.
After that we have the smartest musical number made for a movie in years:
Oh boy where to begin? I suppose the symbolism is a good way. Notice how when they look at their reflection they see their Man/Muppet form.
You can see the "Man or Muppet" dilemma is actually an alegory for "Man or a Child" since Gary was always more of a child than a man.
Notice how in the piano part at 1:52 both of their forms are singing.
After that they decide who they are and now we notice that when we see the piano part again only the form corresponding to their coice is the only one singing now.
And after that we see Walter's human reflection disappear symbolizing his choice to be a "Muppet".
Also this is of course 2 brothers finding their destiny and following their paths in life. Darn,never thought i'd see such an artsy scene in a Muppet movie.
After that Miss Piggy and the gang kidnap Jack Black and force him to be the host. Kermit is reluctant at this but ends up being convinced to return.
The telethon finally starts and after some acts we get this scene:
Kudos to Jason Segel for making this relationship feel so relatable.That takes skill.
Afterwards we have a pure moment of nostalgia for Muppet fans:
The Muppets joining together for a possibly final performance is very touching.
After that that the gang needs only one more act but they're out of ideas.
It seems all is lost but then:
Notice how Gary says that Walter is all grown up, ending the character development of both brothers.
Unfortunately even after all their hard work the gang couldn't reach their 10 million dollar goal in time and get thrown out by Tex Richman.
After that we get our ending:
Not only does Kermit's speech have a very inspiring message for anyone in the entertainment industry,
but notice how Kermit invites Walter to join them.
If you remember the first clip i showed this is Walter's dream come true.
He finally found his place in the world where no one will question his love for the Muppets.
Just like the first scene of the movie was an alegory for Jason Segel's childhood,
this scene represents him finally seeing the Muppets being on the front of family entertainment like he wanted and being thanked by the Jim Henson Company.
Overall this was the best Muppet movie ever made and one of the best family movies ever made.
Thank you Jason Segel for everything.
Well,that's my review. Hope you liked it, See you next time ;)
