Muppets Most Wanted

Every few years we all need to laugh, vegetate and enjoy something fluffy and what a better film than "Muppets Most Wanted" to fulfill all these adjectives. As with its predecessor, "The Muppets" '11 with Amy Adams and Jason Segel, this pretty much continues where that one left off even with a 'sequel song' parody at the beginning of this installment.

Flush with their revival's success, Kermit the Frog (Steve Whitmire) and his friends, including Miss Piggy (Eric Jacobson), are approached by Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) to go on a world tour. Unknown to them, this is all part of the sinister plan of Constantine (Matt Vogel), the world's most evil frog, to become the greatest thief of all time. You see, Kermit and Constantine look uncannily alike, so after making sure that Kermit takes his place in his Siberian jail of which Nadya (Tina Fey) is warden of, Constantine impersonates him to use the Muppets' tour as a cover for his scheme. While Sam the Eagle (Eric Jacobson) and Inspector Jean Pierre Napoleon (Ty Burrell) investigate, the Muppets find their boss seemingly and strangely changed even as Kermit desperately attempts to escape to stop the impostor. Only when Walter (Peter Linz), Fozzie (Eric Jacobson) and Animal (Eric Jacobson) realize the truth, is there a chance to prevent Constantine from pulling off the crime of the century.

Others to round out the cast are Ray Liotta as Big Papa, Dave Goetz as The Great Gonzo, Bill Barretta as The Swedish Chef/Bobo the Bear, David Rudman as Scooter/Miss Poogy, Danny Trejo as Himself, Frank Langella as Vicar, Hugh Bonneville as Irish Journalist, Tom Hollander as Theater Manager, and Tom Hiddleston as The Great Escapo.

This was directed with lightness and hilarity by James Bobin (TV series). Being his first theatrical film under his belt, he will assuredly receive more work, which actually he has in the form of '16s "Through the Looking Glass" in pre-production now. He's done a ton of TV which one can obtain a lot of experience. It was written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller based on Jim Henson's Muppets characters. I thought the previous, "The Muppets" '11 was just a bit more polished when it came to the script, but this certainly wasn't bad--perhaps not quite as funny. But hey, as I said in my review for "The Muppets", how can anyone not like the Muppets?  It's got to be one of the most fun of the franchises out there.

The best time to see this is when you want or need to get a good laugh and just enjoy something fun with no message, heaviness, or drama. With this, it's a rollicking good time.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                            Rated: PG                            107mins.