1992 Christmas movie
Rating: 15/20 (Jen: 16/20; Dylan: 13/20; Emma: 15.5/20; Abbey: 16.5/20; Buster: 20/20)
Plot: It's like Charles Dickens' novel except with a lot of Muppets.
Dylan: "A Muppet with a puppet?"
This isn't the best version of the classic Christmas tale, but it's right up there. It's definitely the funniest. As with every other Muppet movie, this needed more Lew Zealand. I know I've mentioned this before, but the more I put it out there, the more likely the Disney people will stumble upon it as they're looking for somebody to sue. See, Disney's into these origin stories. We've seen them with Marvel, and we're about to see them with the Star Wars characters. Why not the Muppets? And if the Muppets, why not fan-favorite Lew Zealand!
I'm seeing it as a mix between Black Swan, Jaws, The Shawshank Redemption, Drive Angry, and The Godfather Part III. Now, Disney might not like my thinking on this next part, and I know most people watching a movie with Muppets want to see a variety of Muppets, but I think I'd prefer the movie to have only Lew Zealand in it for at least 90% of it. Hans Zimmer should provide the score.
But I digress. This movie doesn't have much Lew Zealand. He's in an impressive extended shot through dirty Victorian streets, streets stuff with Muppets! I'm distracted imagining the logistics of this sort of thing, wondering just how many people have to be involved to make all that work. Most of the familiar faces appear in this, albeit most very briefly. Kermit gets to be Bob and Miss Piggy's his wife, Fozzie is Scrooge's old employer, the Electric Mayhem play uncharacteristic music at a barn dance, and Sam the Eagle is kind of forced in there. The Swedish Chef appears briefly, and so do Bunsen and Beaker. Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat are the Muppet stars, providing narration that doesn't really work for me. There's no Scooter. And the Muppets don't matter all that much since they--probably wisely--went with a human main character. Michael Caine is a fine Scrooge, hitting all of the emotions of that character very well, and a Muppet Scrooge probably would have made the whole thing a little too silly. Statler and Waldorf play a pair of Marleys, clever puppet casting, The other three ghosts? The Ghost of Christmas Past would be the most unsettling thing I've ever seen in my life if I had never watched The Polar Express. The Ghost of Christmas Present is a little better--and bigger--if not all that memorable. I wish the scenes with The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come was concealed more in darkness, but he looks cool, all withered and faceless. He's just the right amount of terrifying for a movie that's made at least partially for children. As with all Muppet movies, there are a lot of jokes that just don't work at all, but the more Muppets you see, the more charming that gets. This one's also got songs, and although they're not offensive, they're not all that memorable. All in all, this is a good telling of a story that's been told way too many times.
The first time I saw this movie was in the theater back during my freshman year in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was with a gay man who lived across the hall, and although I didn't realize it was a date, the guy probably thought it was a date. We saw a bunch of movies, and he always paid. I probably should have realized we were dating because of that actually, but I was just as stupid then as I am now. I actually miss those days because although I was never interested in being in a relationship with another man, I did like seeing movies for free. It does make me wonder if he thought A Few Good Men was going to be something else.
I know I did a favorite Muppets list a long time ago. I don't know where that's at (a comment?) and maybe it's time to do another. That could be my next top-ten list!
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