In the past few weeks, I decided to watch every Muppet movie to decide which ones were great, and which weren't, and maybe to find some new favorite movies.
This one is more on the least-favorite side of things.
Firstly, this movie doesn't have a lot going for it. It's a very simplistic plot, even for a Muppet movie, and there's just not a lot going on. Gonzo feels alone in the world, but then has a vision that he's an alien. Then he gets contacted by the aliens and gets kidnapped by the government. That is the plot. And it's less interesting than it sounds.
There're also no original songs. That's basically blasphemy for a Muppet film. I think it's the only one that doesn't. Thank god this trend didn't continue.
There also aren't a ton of cameos, and though Jeffery Tambor is acting his heart out (and I'm vaguely interested in his character), he can't save the film like Tim Curry could. The jokes are also relatively mediocre, and I almost think they could have gotten more laughs if the other Muppets believed Gonzo, and reacted to his news like "oh, you're an alien? Uh, yeah, that makes sense!"
I relatively enjoyed the subplot with Rizzo as a lab rat, but the rest of the film is just kinda boring. There was one, ONE joke that actually made me laugh out loud, and that's a pretty bad score for a Muppet film. It was this one: "When are they coming?" "I don't know." "Who are these aliens?" "I don't know." "Where are they landing and DON'T say 'I don't know'!" "...I know not?"
I love Gonzo, seriously, but I feel like part of his charm is that we don't know what he is. And this movie kinda wrecked that charm.
It's a very average kids film, but as a Muppet movie? I'd give it a thumbs down.
This one is more on the least-favorite side of things.
Firstly, this movie doesn't have a lot going for it. It's a very simplistic plot, even for a Muppet movie, and there's just not a lot going on. Gonzo feels alone in the world, but then has a vision that he's an alien. Then he gets contacted by the aliens and gets kidnapped by the government. That is the plot. And it's less interesting than it sounds.
There're also no original songs. That's basically blasphemy for a Muppet film. I think it's the only one that doesn't. Thank god this trend didn't continue.
There also aren't a ton of cameos, and though Jeffery Tambor is acting his heart out (and I'm vaguely interested in his character), he can't save the film like Tim Curry could. The jokes are also relatively mediocre, and I almost think they could have gotten more laughs if the other Muppets believed Gonzo, and reacted to his news like "oh, you're an alien? Uh, yeah, that makes sense!"
I relatively enjoyed the subplot with Rizzo as a lab rat, but the rest of the film is just kinda boring. There was one, ONE joke that actually made me laugh out loud, and that's a pretty bad score for a Muppet film. It was this one: "When are they coming?" "I don't know." "Who are these aliens?" "I don't know." "Where are they landing and DON'T say 'I don't know'!" "...I know not?"
I love Gonzo, seriously, but I feel like part of his charm is that we don't know what he is. And this movie kinda wrecked that charm.
It's a very average kids film, but as a Muppet movie? I'd give it a thumbs down.