Muppets Most Wanted

Muppets Most Wanted is an earnest and entertaining effort, but suffers from some forced and awkward moments. A Siberian prison as a comic setting is risky at the best of times, and current events make it uncomfortable. The gag of the old fashioned circus train is too subtle, a slapstick sequence involving the engineer is too crude, and the comic possibilities of crossing the Atlantic on a train are overlooked.

My mixed feelings about this film are best described by Michael Schulman’s article in The New Yorker. I particularly like his comment about Miss Piggy being reduced to a “hamsel in distress.” As Muppet movies go, this is one of the better ones, but the original Muppet Movie remains my favourite.

The majority opinion of film classifiers is that Muppets Most Wanted is fine for all ages. However, British Columbia and some overseas jurisdictions felt the violence warranted a mention, and I believe it is worth mentioning. In the United States and South Africa, they are concerned enough about the violence to bump up to a PG rating. For more details about the ratings and content, look up the ratings by agency.