Carnage chez les Puppets

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.

Is this movie going to win any awards? Absolutely not. Does it have a clever plot? Ummm not exactly. However, it is far more fun and funny than the reviews and ratings suggest. I actually found it to be one of my favorite Melissa McCarthy movies. I thought the idea for the movie was actually pretty funny. Muppets are not just for children. If you go in not expecting a groundbreaking movie, you just might enjoy yourself. At minimum, deserves a seven.

Certainly not 10/10 or even 1/10. It's original and good fun. A film that doesn't take itself too seriously. Which is why I'm amazed by the 1/10. Don't expect a blockbuster but a must see. A good night in and a good laugh.

The Happytime Murders is less Roger Rabbit and more Cool World or Monkeybone, the movie is much better than either of those films by virtue of having an engaging lead and a coherent story(which both other films lacked) but its humor is a mixed bag. Its brisk running time of 78 minutes makes it a quick sit, and it doesn't linger on any comic set piece too long (save for maybe a puppet sex scene that falls flat). The puppetry is impressive on a technical level and the movie does a good job of bringing to life its sleazy world of puppets and humans, but its reliance on shock humor makes some stretches rather tedious to sit through. Maybe if The Happytime Murders had been made before the glut of The Hangover clones flooded cineplexes for 10 years it might've been able to have a more lasting impression, but as is it's a comedy with a few chuckles, some decent puppet effects, and not much lasting impact.

It would be the easiest thing in the world to alate this film and brand it terrible, but I'm going to focus on the positives, the media hate seems this the worst film of the year, and true it's not good. However is very different, it's very original, and at times it had myself and the whole cinema laughing loudly. They took a risk, and I'm unsure it will have paid off, they went for a safe pair of comedy hands with Melissa McCarthy, and personally I found her really funny. Obviously the film has limitations with what it can do, and where it can go, but it's not so bad as it's being made out to be. The Sharon Stone scene is absolutely hilarious.

It's not a wow, but at least it's different, that deserves some credit in this day and age, right? 6/10