2011
105 minutes
rated PG
by Scott Mendelson
There is a part of me that doesn't want The Muppets to be a box office smash. It's a wonderful film, one of the very best movies of the year, in fact. But there is a part of me that doesn't want this to be the opening chapter in another deluge of new Muppet movies, television shows, and the like. The film, as it stands, works fine as both a standalone film and an introduction to the world created by Jim Henson some forty years ago. But it also has an unexpected power as something else: a farewell of sorts. It is about the heartache of losing touch with old friends and not getting that last chance to say goodbye. It is about, among other things, how we, as a society, seek a kind of closure for certain chapters in our lives, and can sometimes feel incomplete if we don't get it. Maybe this new film will be a gateway drug to a whole new generation of kids, and I cannot begrudge them the pleasures that Kermit and his friends have given me. But this new entry has our felt friends emerging out of exile and in arguably peak form, and it makes a strong argument for ending on top. Come what may, The Muppets, if need be, exists as a triumphant last hurrah and/or fitting finale to a entertainment property that never really got its 'one last show'.
