THE Muppets are back in all their glory from this Friday. Must admit that it was with some reluctance that I attended the advance screening in Dublin, principally because I thought Kermit and Miss Frog and their entourage, had gone out of fashion. Over 100 minutes later, I left the Dundrum Cinemas delighted that I had made the journey-and the opportunity to meet up again with Limerick-born Trish Long, vice-president and general manager of Disney Ireland.
With a running time of over 100 minutes, The Muppets has something for every age group, although possibly more for the adults who are familiar with the franchise than for children.
Still, the under 12s will quickly catch on to what The Muppets is all about.
Interestingly, it was written and co-produced by Jason Segel, star of the funny Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and who also plays the central character.
Fresh, colourful, lively and tuneful, this lovely movie provides the zaniness and craziness that is absent in many recent comedies that had to rely on toilet humour and foul language.
On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, his brother Gary (Segel) and Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams), discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to demolish the Muppet Theatre and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds.
It is time to rally all the lads and lassies, who have gone their different ways, and get them to stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise their 10 millions dollars needed to save the venue.
