Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Muppets Show Their Age, But Still Entertain, March 10, 2006
I did my footwork before purchasing this disc, so I wasn't expecting a classic - I was merely expecting the Muppets to show up.
And show up they did. It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie is a decidedly mixed bag which will entertain longtime Muppet fans and impressionable rugrats, but anyone else is going to be mildly amused at best and flat-out bored at worst.
Listed as a 2002 production, the film showcases what's left of the faded energy of the old school Muppets ensemble: Steve Whitmire (as a sharp Kermit), and to a lesser extent, Dave Goelz (as Gonzo in more of a supporting role). The "newcomers" provide life to the cast, but also reveal the that these are not the Muppets of our youth - while Eric Jacobsen does a fantastic job filling in for Frank Oz's roles (Piggy, Fozzy, Sam, Animal, even a cameo by Yoda) and Bill Barreta's Pepe is as sly and funny as ever, other classic characters such as Scooter, Janice, and Rowlf are noticeably different, or even silent altogether. While the differences in the older Muppets are a result of the puppets suffering the death or retirement of their main puppeteers, some of the newer characters are as cringe-inducing as ever. Johnny Fiama, I'm lookin' at you.
The spotty lameness extends to the human roles, though not in places you might expect. David Arquette is surprisingly not completely irritating in his role, and Joanne Cusak is appropriately nasty as the villain. But Whoopi Goldberg makes an uniteresting God (who does make an interesting God?) and Matthew Lillard's turn as a French director, is, well, um, he tried. Yes, he tried.
The film itself (or, the TV Movie itself) is not bad, providing decent pacing, excellent production values, breezy, smart writing, and even some treats for Muppet fans. There are several sweet in-jokes, such as when God rewinds to the beginning of Kermit's story, she stops at the tail end of an interview with -ugh- Carson Daly, and Kermit says "...and that's why I wear this funny green collar!" Kudos for the subtlety of Scooter's lame boast at the theater Christmas party, "My uncle used to own this theater, you know!"
Additionally, a few surprises await, and the only one I'll give away is that Fozzie has an action sequence. Yes, an action sequence. It, like so much else in the film, is decent while hovering perilously close to being bad. But, to its credit, it's something new, and nothing is more new than seeing the hard-luck Muppets of a "Kermit-less" universe, a twisted world where Piggy is a Miss Cleo-like psychic living in a small apartment with twenty cats.
Of final note are the sheer amount of Muppet cameos in the film. Sweetums, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry and even Beauregard - BEAUREGARD - make appearences, sometimes even with lines. It was a trip to see characters long since retired shake the dust off at least one last time.
All in all, this is worth seeing for the casual Muppet fan, but perhaps only worth owning for those still entranced by talking pieces of felt with googly eyes. For this franchise to survive, they're going to have to take more risks, and It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas is a good first step.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Modern Muppet Twist on a Christmas Classic, December 15, 2003
I'm not really going to go too much into the plot; I will just say it is a modern muppet version of "It's a Wonderful Life" with some other movies thrown in the mix :) This movie has a lot of big names and guest appearances such as Whoppi Goldberg, Joan Cusack, and David Arquette just to name a few, plus all of the muppets! The DVD version also has muppet bios, bloopers, and deleted scenes - although not as entertaining as I had hoped, but still nice little extras. If you love the muppets, I would highly recommend adding this movie to your collection.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A pleasant surprise for Christmas!, January 25, 2003
As a life-long Muppet fan, I have watched them struggle and slowly fall from briliance, and so when I sat down to watch this tv movie, I was honestly expecting the same poor writing and painfully awkward cameos as have appeared in recent Muppet projects (they have still been highly enjoyable, but not enough to grab the masses --or keep up with old Muppety standards, in my opinion). But I was pleasantly surprised at what a well-written and truly funny, old-style Muppet treat this movie was!! The jokes were NOT all tired and predictable, the puppeteering was on, and even the somewhat abrasive David Arquette played his role well and blended nicely. (Ok --Whoopi as God was a bit much).Yes -- the voices weren't all what they used to be, but heck -- aren't the puppeteers allowed to age?? I think Steve Whitmire has done a fabulous job of taking over many of Henson's characters (he gets better with every project), and I don't have a problem with Jerry and Frank's voices changing a little. They're only human. This movie was very encouraging -- I hope that it is only the beginning of more well-done projects to emerge. **True Muppet fans will really appreaciate the digs the Muppets get on ..ahem..."certain companies" who have attempted to alter contracts and pull the floor out from under the Muppets in real life. Very nice! Although, about that dig against Muppet Central groupies....well, we'll forgive them. ;0P
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