One of my most anticipated films of the year finally gets around to producing a trailer. And despite my anticipation, there was (past tense) some trepidation and even fear that the beloved franchise would fail miserably with new creators behind the camera. But after seeing this, it looks like Jason Segal, who claimed to know exactly what he’s doing, apparently does. Jim Henson may not be turning in his grave afterall.
Enjoyed it as well, even though I”ve been told today by a respected pocaster (winking if he reads this) that ” no true Muppet fan” would approve of this because the trailer “doesnt sell the Muppets”
Overrated. Not all that clever, even by Muppet standards.
I’ll be the stick in the mud on this, I think the Muppets worked best as a SHOW not as a series of Feature films, and I can muster little enthusiasm for yet another Muppet feature.
Obviously, I’m on a different planet than everyone else.
Kurt’s criticism of the trailer is exactly what makes it good. It’s what makes it The Muppets. It doesn’t go crazy with shenanigans or over selling a film. It surprises us with beloved characters and does it fairly subtly and uses big stars more or less as McGuffins.
And if you don’t want a musical/dance number in your muppets then I don’t know what to tell you. I’m pretty sure every episode of the show and each subsequent film had pretty great musical/dance numbers. And the Fozzie bear line is forced? It sounds EXACTLY like a line from the show.
Granted Muppets in Space wasn’t all that, but Manhattan and Caper were great films. Just watched Manhattan very recently and had an absolute ball with it.
I think you’re just old.
It plays a lot better if you don’t know going in that it is the new Muppets movie. The audience I was with ate it up.
If there was a good movie advertised in that trailer, I didn’t really see it. I love the Muppets but I kind of have to concur with Kurt’s stance that they work much better as a show than as a series of feature films. And this just looks terrible. Could be crappy trailer, but I’m not entirely convinced the film will be any different. Oh, and did I mention how the trailer just *didn’t* work for me?
My audience all went bananas when we saw this before Pirates last week. Actually it’s so much better than Pirates that it doesn’t even seem fair putting them together.
Besides, Kurt’s a Muppanthrope.
When I saw the trailer I DID NOT KNOW it was the MUPPETS movie, hell I didn’t even recogniz Jason Segal! So that ain’t going to fly here, John!
Sure I smiled when I watched this (It takes the piss out of about 5 things in the intro), but go Bananas, just because they show the muppets but don’t do much, other than an implied dance # that could have been an outtake from Enchanted (a movie I didn’t think was “ALL THAT” either. Hardly. Even the Fozzie Bear line at the end seemed forced.
Hell, I’m a fan of the show. A fairly big fan, even before the Gary Shandling show, it was my first real dose of Meta-styled entertainment (along with Duck-Amok), but the movies have all seemed like cheap pageantry, something the TV show often seemed to transcend.
I’m not saying the movie is going to be crap, I’m just saying this ‘surprise’ style trailer wasn’t nearly as effective (for me) as it could have been.
I just played the trailer for my wife as I figured she would actually like the look of the first half of it and you should have seen the smile on her face when Kermit showed up. I’m not saying its an amazing trailer but for those who didn’t know another Muppet movie was coming it plays really well.
I’ll repeat, I’m one of those. This is not the first place I say the trailer, some one passed it along to me without giving up the gag. Still didn’t work.
Didn’t grow up with muppets… kinda looks like shit, just like the other muppet movies.
The first three Muppet movies are very “meta” and self-referential Kurt.
I don’t think the movies are cheap, the first films pushed the limits of some of their puppeteering, for anyone paying attention to the craft, growing up stuff like this was mindblowing:
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060520171543/muppet/images/7/70/Massbicycles.jpg
I’ll always consider the show as working on another level since to me it was the only thing keeping the vaudeville era alive (okay, that and Lawrence Welk
) but the movies are top notch family films and have some of the best music the show has ever put out. You’d have to be nuts to not dig Happiness Hotel, Saying Goodbye, Together Again, etc
But you know, fair’s fair. I insulted Terrence Malick’s entire body of work enough this weekend to deserve a few shots back
Hilariously misleading teaser. I wish I had seen it in theater without having it spoiled
I’m not even saying that I don’t enjoy the Muppet movies (well I’ve seen A Christmas Carol, Manhattan, and The Muppet Movie at least…) I’m saying that in this day and age, the trailer is not so creative or even ‘muppet-ish’ to these eyes as to the rest of the internets….
But I guess that makes me a Muppetantrope. Thanks for that, Matt
(thinks Muppets from Space is awesome)
That’s “Muppanthrope” Kurt. If you’re going to use the word, at least use it properly…
I’m somewhere in the middle…Fozzie’s end quote wasn’t quite as funny as I would’ve liked and it didn’t knock me out, BUT the pairing of Amy Adams and Segal looks like it should be perfect (assuming they keep the tone right and they play up the bad rom-com angle). I do wish I had seen this in a theatre with a big crowd though.
As much as I loved The Muppets on Sesame Street and thought their show was great, their funniest moment was Gonzo (in the first movie I believe) flying with his cape and then stating “My little super body is tired…” I still laugh at that image. I realize I may be the only one…
I like inventing new words.
Maybe I’ll have to rewatch Space. I saw it in the theater in college and didn’t think much of it. Watching it with fresh eyes (and uninebriated) might shed new light.
Also, I don’t think Fozzie’s line at the end is rofl funny either. But it’s still a classic line – it sounds exactly like something he would’ve said on the show. The point here isn’t really whether the movie is super funny or amazing craft, I’m just hoping the movie captures the spirit of the show without Henson around.
My general expectations from this Muppet movie: As good as or better than Muppets From Space (and I think this is possible given the supporting player choices). If it manages to be as good as Christmas Carol I’ll be thrilled, but then again Carol is better more for the heart than it is for humor.
All the Muppet movies have been completely different experiences. They have evolved with the times. As far as family comedy goes, it doesn’t get any better than The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, or Muppets Take Manhattan – and anything that introduces Muppets to a new generation of kiddies have my full support.
100% sold on this.