Muppets Most Wanted ** (2014, Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, Tina Fey) – Movie Review

After their successful revival in 2011, Disney’s The Muppets 2 movie is the properly daft tale of a Muppets world tour, a Kermit the Frog lookalike and his dastardly sidekick.

Unlikely choice Ricky Gervais stars as Dominic Badguy, who persuades The Muppets to go on a grand world tour. It’s part of the sinister plan of Constantine (voice of Matt Vogel), the world’s most evil frog, to become the greatest thief of all time. When Kermit the Frog (voice of Steve Whitmire) is jailed, Constantine impersonates him to use the Muppets’ tour as a cover for his European jewel-heist caper.

While Sam the Eagle (voice of Eric Jacobson) and Inspector Jean Pierre Napoleon (Ty Burrell) investigate, the Muppets find their Frog boss strangely changed. Kermit tries to escape to stop the impostor, and Walter (voice of Peter Linz), Fozzie Bear and Animal (both the voice of Eric Jacobson) suss out the truth, but can anyone stop Constantine from pulling off the crime of the century? Jacobson also voices Miss Piggy; Bill Barretta voices  The Swedish Chef.

The tale is ingenious and amusing enough, but big laughs are hard to find in this nevertheless quite jolly and friendly frolic. James Bobin and Nicholas Stoller’s screenplay needs more funny gags, a lot more, unfortunately, and Gervais isn’t much fun here, though it helps if you’re a fan. But your affection for the beloved characters, some nice musical numbers, a few laugh-out-loud moments and the celebrity cameos (including Tony Bennett as himself and Hugh Bonneville as an Irish journalist!) help to keep it staying pleasant.

At least it keeps a smile on your face and you don’t actually want to walk out, as it was reported some folks did in America. It’s not quite as enjoyable as The Muppets (2011) but it’s still passable family fare. Still, The Muppet Show probably needs to be better showcased than this to survive.

The always welcome Tina Fey is the third actual actor starring in the show, gamely playing Nadya.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Movie Review

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