Movie Review: The Muppets

It's not a guarantee but usually when Hollywood brings back a well-known franchise from our youth it is a big hit (see: Transformers & The Smurfs). Something about wanting to rekindle our childhood innocence causes us to go out, open our wallets and watch it once again.

The Muppets are like that but for every generation. Starting in 1976 with the Muppet Show and running through countless movies in the past 30+ years, millions of children grew up with the Muppets (and of course Muppet Babies). The only thing more surprising than the fact that this movie was a huge success and made a lot of money is that no one touched this franchise for 10 years. In this period of Hollywood recycling how is that even possible?

I suppose the closest comparisons would be to Batman (8 years) and Star Trek (7 years). A big bust of a movie (Muppets From Space, Batman & Robin, Star Trek Nemesis) means a lot of bad opinions in people's minds and a hurting bottom line for the movie studio. Understandably, they need to ignore the franchise for a while until their wounds heal and people forget about the latest disaster and instead remember the classic adventures.

However, I think an argument can be made that unlike those other two, a children-focused product like The Muppets would bounce back quicker and be more useful to a studio. What I believe is that the studios thought The Muppets were dead in the water because of how America's comedic values have evolved. Kids see a lot of physical comedy today and young adults hear a shitload of cursing. The Muppets don't offer that. They are about doing the right thing. They are clean cut. They are the antithesis of what we see nowadays. But where the studios messed up is that The Muppets are not considered "quaint". It's not like seeing a typewriter or a corded phone and saying "Oh, that's so Nana". Even though they haven't had the spotlight on them in recent years they still feel current. The Muppets have proved that they are still relevant.

4 out of 5