The Muppets (2011) Film 46/50

I watched this movie with my 3-year old niece today. It held her attention for about half of the film. She kept asking if the Walter muppet was Ernie. Clearly, I was the target demographic for this film. Not her.

As I was both "late to the game" and pleased in general with this film, I will keep this review brief. It was a sweet tribute to The Muppet Show (which I fondly recall as being the preferred method for determining my bedtime back when I was my niece's age). It had great references to both classic Muppet moments (from the show and various movies) and Sesame Street. It made nice use of cameos. It had some great jokes about movie gimmicks like using maps to illustrate change of location or that flowers in your suit pocket would probably get crushed after performing an impromptu song and dance routine.

As for the performances, Amy Adams (to paraphrase my sister) has just the right amount of crazy in her to make her perfect for this movie. Jason Segel is always adorable as a man-child. Chris Cooper, who is always amazing, took amazing to a whole new level when he broke into a completely unanticipated hip-hop number. Not to mention the myriad of celebrity cameos filling each scene. Seems like almost everyone in Hollywood wanted in on this film.

So if you haven't seen this film yet, and you have enjoyed anything produced by Jim Henson in the past, check this one out. And know that I probably laughed the hardest at Ken Juong's cameo as the host of gameshow Punch Teacher.