Metacritic-Rezensionen

Utterly delightful. [26 June 1981, p.D1]

Ballooning. Biking. Swimming. Parachuting. The Great Muppet Caper represented a giant leap for Muppetkind, in only their second big-screen outing.

In what could be the one of the best opening movie scenes I've ever seen, for example, Kermit, Fozzie and Gonzo hover next to the opening credits in a hot air balloon, wondering how soon they will finish.

As before, much of the dialog neatly walks the line between true wit and silly (and sometimes inside) jokes.

The film boasts fewer guest-star cameo appearances than the first time around but those who are here do a good job, and Miss Piggy's Busby Berkeley-type dance and the water ballet are fun to watch.

Here is a thoroughly genial movie, a combination of A.A. Milne, Busby Berkeley and a small bit of Blake Edwards.

John Cleese, Peter Ustinov, Robert Morley, and Muppet creator Jim Henson make cameo appearances, but they're all upstaged by an uncredited Peter Falk, whose monologue on a park bench opposite Kermit the Frog is an exercise in virtuoso daffiness.

The songs are routine, but the inconsequential plot leaves plenty of time for engaging asides like the blandly silly dinner-table dialogue between a well-bred couple (Cleese and Sanderson) determined not to notice that their home has been invaded by little furry creatures.

The Muppets are a wonderful creation, but they lose their special quality in "The Great Muppet Caper." They behave like clones of other popular kiddie superstars -- like the basic cartoon heroes they once seemed destined to replace.

It's no accident that the word "great" appears in the title of the new film featuring Jim Henson's felt television puppets. The Great Muppet Caper. Like its predecessor, this film is its own best fan.