The Happytime Murders

Originally saw in the theater last year, I don't know why I didn't review much sooner. Either way Melissa McCarthy is great fun and so is everyone else involved. Unfortunate Happytime Murders didn't do well it's quite enjoyable and cool concept for something that was originally a kids show!

It's an R rated puppet noir slapstick with Jim Henson Company creators. What's not to love? You can't take this movie seriously. Just laugh a little. People who are comparing this to the Muppets need to get a life. Muppets aren't the only characters Jim Henson Company created over the last 50 years and there's millions of other felt puppets in the world. Yes; the puppets in this film act as intermediaries between our world and their fictional world... that's nothing new. And yes they are used as gag jokes sometimes. But they are controlled by world class puppeteers- isn't that what's fun about it?

If you enjoyed this; you should watch Peter Jackson's Meet the Feebles. If you didn't enjoy this, understand that life is better when you laugh, even if the jokes aren't up to your standard.

Entertaining, funny, and incredibly immature- The Happytime Murders may feel a bit uneven- but most of the time, it still proves to be a fun f-ed up ride. The puppeteering is great, with some amazing designs, and an impressive amount of situations they put these puppets into. Even with the help of green screen special effects, the film never feels off in those moments, and is quite a talent to feat for puppet work in films and entertainment. The film is largely entertaining, providing a decently fun ride, accompanied by a surprising amount of jokes that actually land- and almost every time as well. That being said, the film does feel a bit rushed in its delivery, making things seem a bit hectic and forced to actually tie together in one film. The film can also feel a bit uneven at times, and doesn't necessarily hit the film hard, but feels a lot more weary than it could be. The story is, needless to say, a bit all over the place and somewhat ridiculous, but if you don't take it too seriously, it can be rather easy to enjoy. In the end, The Happytime Murders is far from a homerun, but it is a surprisingly decent time- with enough jokes and humor to land- not to mention it's pretty entertaining- that make it sure enough of a fun journey to sit through. My Rating: 7.5/10

An interesting mix of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Team America: World Police that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. This film doesn't pretend to be anything other than a raunchy comedy and doesn't hold back on the gross-out humor. Performances were a bit on the splotchy side and it's easy to tell the scenes where Melissa McCarthy is improvising vs. her scripted scenes. The actual puppeteering is very well done (I would expect nothing less given the involvement of Jim Hensons's son). Overall, the gimmick and little moments are more than enough to make up for the movie's shortcomings, making it very enjoyable, though still not any sort of masterpiece.

No idea what people were hoping for who left 1 star reviews but this is exactly what I expected- a funny, foul-mouthed, immature and very entertaining comedy