Viewed – 08 July 2012  Blu-ray

I grew up loving The Muppets, more so their late seventies / early eighties The Muppet Show than the poorly advised Muppets Tonight.  Their brand of humour, celebrity guests and just great characters really made my childhood.  Over the years The Muppets went on to star in several movies, most notably Muppets Christmas Carol and Muppets Treasure Island.  Yet in subsequent years, they seem to have fallen out of favour and until now I began to think those cuddly creations were all but extinct.

That is where this latest big-screen outing kicks off, with a young Muppet called Walter who has grown up with a human ‘brother’ Jason Segel, and on his chance to go to Hollywood and meet his heroes, discovers they have disappeared from the public eye, with their famed studio under threat from a ruthless tycoon.  Yet Walter intends to get the old gang back together and convince them to save the studio.  Playing wisely on how The Muppets may seem a bit outdated these days, it was certainly hard to ignore just how funny and infectious they still remain, and as soon as the likes of Kermit The Frog, Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear appeared on-screen, I found myself transported back.

Supporting cast handle the material well next to their Muppet counterparts, especially the gorgeous Amy Adams reprising her musical song & dance skills from Enchanted, and along with a few celeb cameos, including Jack Black and Whoopie Goldberg – this was pure feel-good entertainment.  The in-jokes were also priceless, especially Animal being in anger management and Miss Piggy working at Vogue.  That being said, the comedy does get very silly at times, the concept isn’t anything particularly fresh or imaginative, and a couple of the songs are rather limp (especially the Oscar-winning Man or Muppet) – but its the larger than life characters we’re here for and in that respect – this delivered brilliantly.

Long live The Muppets!!

Verdict:  4 /5