"You are talking about Kermit, right?"
The Muppets decide to take their show on a world tour, with Dominic Badguy (Gervais) as their manager. Kermit (Whitmire) is hesitant, as they just got back together, but finally gives in. The rest of the Muppets want to do new acts that are too dangerous, too long, or too bad to be added to the show... but Dominic likes all of the ideas. Kermit takes a walk to clear his head and is attacked by a mysterious figure, who glues a mole to his face. Soon Kermit is arrested and sent to a gulag in Siberia. His attacker is Constantine (Vogel), the most dangerous frog in the world, who conceals his mole with makeup and poses as Kermit.
Constantine and Dominic are planning a series of heists across Europe and use the Muppets as a cover. As the Muppets perform their new acts, Constantine and Dominic commit their crimes. The heists are investigated by Interpol's Jean Pierre Napoleon (Burrell) and CIA's Sam the Eagle (Jacobson), who immediately dislike each other.
Meanwhile, Kermit tries various methods to escape the gulag. Each time he is caught by Nadya (Fey) who orders him to direct their annual Prison Follies. Kermit holds onto to hope that his friends will find and rescue him. But the Muppets don't notice Kermit is missing. Can Walter (Linz) figure out the truth, so they can save Kermit and stop Constantine?
After the success of The Muppets, a sequel was inevitable. As a fan of the Muppets, another film. This is the 8th Muppet feature film: The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, The Muppets, and Muppets Most Wanted.
Most of the personnel from The Muppets returned for this film. James Bobin returns as the director and Nicholas Stoller (co-wrote The Muppets with Jason Segel) wrote the screenplay. The script is entertaining across the board and has many meta jokes. Bret McKenzie once again wrote all the new songs. My favorites are "I'm Number One," "The Big House," and "The Interrogation Song" but all of the songs are catchy. I just bought the soundtrack so I can continue to enjoy these songs.
The main human characters are entertaining. Ricky Gervais is very funny as Dominic, toning down his performance style to suit the Muppets. He is great in "I'm Number One" and has a funny payoff at the end. Ty Burrell is the funniest human character as French Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon. He is brilliant opposite Sam the Eagle. Their chemistry spills into "The Interrogation Song" which gets better each time you hear it. Tina Fey kills it as Nadya. She sports a thick Russian accent and gets some great jokes. Her character is the most unexpected, from start to finish.
Once again the cameos are hilarious. For this film they wisely chose to keep some of the cameos a surprise. My favorite is Danny Trejo as inmate Danny Trejo. Some are so brief that you might miss them, but all are entertaining. McKenzie's partner from The Flight of the Conchords, Jermain Clements is the Prison King and gets his own song (which is a cover, but still funny to watch).
My main complaint, the smaller roles for fan favorite Muppets. I missed Gonzo's craziness. The soundtrack features the full length versions of all of the songs. Most of the songs were trimmed for the film, losing a funny version in the process. I did love Matt Vogel as Constantine, a welcome addition to the cast. Hopefully he appears in subsequent Muppets features.
Muppets Most Wanted (2014) 107 minutes
Director: James Bobin
Starring: Ricky Gervais as Dominic Badguy
Ty Burrell as Jean Pierre Napoleon
Tina Fey as Nadya
Steve Whitmire as Kermit, Statler, Beaker, Rizzo the Rat, Link Hogthrob, The Newsman
Eric Jacobson as Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam the Eagle, Animal
Dave Goelz as The Great Gonzo, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Zoot, Beauregard, Waldorf
Bill Barretta as Pepe the King Prawn, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth, The Swedish Chef
David Rudman as Scooter, Janice, Miss Poogy
Matt Vogel as Constantine, Floyd Pepper, Sweetums, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry
Peter Linz as Walter
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