One thing that I can't really stand is other people's children. Especially when those children are doing things such as crying, shouting or running around like a lunatic.This might seem a bit surprising to people who know me, because apparently I'm "good with children" and I work as a teacher...
The thing is, I can stand young children when I'm related to them (of course I can!) and when in the classroom, I'm in charge of said children, so if they mess around they have to answer to me. When I'm out in public, it's up to the parent to deal with the child and I guess I can be a bit impatient.
So... imagine the scene. 12:45pm on a Saturday afternoon. The first day of half term. I decide to see The Muppets at a packed cinema... full of children.
In all honesty, it could have been a lot worse. None of said children had a mobile phone out and playing on them all through the film (something of a pet peeve of mine) and the worst behaviour in the cinema all the way through the film was some children running around the stalls right at the front - but they weren't shouting/screaming/crying, which are the worst things children can do!
Back to the film at hand. The Muppets deals with Walter (voiced by Peter Linz), his brother Gary (Jason Segel) and Gary's girlfriend, Mary (Amy Adams) trying to save the Muppets studio from falling into the hands of an evil oil tycoon, Tex Richman (Chris Cooper). And, that's about it really. It's a brilliantly simple storyline that allows the Muppets themselves to really be the central characters. After all, it is a children's film. The story cannot be too over-the-top or ridiculous, otherwise it will lose it's core audience.
Mix in some fart shoes, musical numbers and slapstick humour, and the children will be entertained throughout.
For the adults, the film mainly hits the right buttons during the campy musical numbers and when the characters break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience. The "Muppet or a Man" song seemed to be a highlight for me, as well as the opening song "Life's a Happy Song" - both I'm sure will be played by myself again soon!
While the Muppets themselves are an american creation, I couldn't help but think that some americanisms in the film will be lost on most people. Some of the celebrity cameos were questionable - I didn't recognise some of them and had to be told who Justin Bieber's girlfriend was by who I went with*... is that all she is famous for?! Also, some celebrity cameos just seemed to be wasted. Dave Grohl was a part of the Muppets tribute band, 'The Moopits' but he spent nearly all of the scene in the background. I almost missed him!
Also, the whole notion of the Muppets saving their beloved studio through a telethon is rather lost in translation a little bit. While we have fund raising events on the TV in Britain for charities such as Children in Need and Red Nose Day, the telethon event in The Muppets just seemed a bit of a cop-out and anticlimax.
Having said all of that, the film does still manage to raise a smile and even a laugh in a few places. The songs were a welcome uplifting break from the simplistic storyline and the cheesy feel-good ending was just what the doctor ordered when I decided to purchase a ticket for a film called, The Muppets!
*** / *****
* I went with my friend, Nikki Mason. She was moaning at me because I didn't mention her before in the blogs, so here's the mention. Enjoy!
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