Les Muppets à Manhattan

With all the crazy stuff going on in my life, I'm glad to get some relief by watching the last Muppet movie for me. I have now seen every theatrically released one! I was initially confused throughout the first hour of this movie. I believe I saw this movie being advertised and it was saying it would be about Kermit losing his memory. That kind of disinterested me. This was something that had been done many times before. It ended up being something that was only important in the last third! I really do appreciate the good pacing in this film. It's great to see all these heartwarming scenes.

I wasn't expecting to see "Sesame Street" characters making cameos. Of course, there's always cameos in these movies. I just love this part in the credits where they say that all characters were fictitious except for the cameos. Yeah, look at that there! There was a short sequence that was like "Muppet Babies". I didn't know whether this movie came out before or after out but it actually came out at the same time! The emotions are quite strong and the resolution is nice. I'm glad to have seen every Muppet movie now! ***

This is my least-favorite of the three Muppet movies of the Henson era. There just isn't enough Muppets. Most of the gang leaves during the very beginning and it's all about Kermit, Piggy and Rizzo. Great characters, yes, but without the whole wacky ensemble it's just not the same. That, and the film is kind of just reinforcing what happened in the original Muppet movie, only replacing Hollywood with Broadway.

Don't get me wrong, it's an enjoyable movie, but it's not grade 'A' muppet material.

I was lucky enough to see this film countless times when I was a child. A few days ago while taking a break from college work I saw the movie on television and was really impressed by it. The film is excellent. Kermit and the gang are not only entertaining to children but also to adults. Children are entranced by the puppets and the humor is very well suited to adults. If you have children I recommend this film, there's singing, puppets, action, and Miss Piggy what else could be more entertaining and it beats being stuck with the teletubbies.

A fascinating insight into the lives of a variety of talking animals and the trials and tribulations they face in the human dominated New York, this film deals with the age old tale of frog meets pig in a mature, contemporary fashion. The director, late great Mr Henson, pulls no punches in his gritty treatment, and the viewer is left with no doubt as to the authenticity and integrity of the bold statement this film makes; in truth, "peoples" really is "peoples". Shocking at the time, the film may now seem clumsy in comparison to modern epics such as the highly charged "Toy Story" or more violent bloodfests such as "Antz", but Henson's meisterwork is nonetheless worthy of acclaim. The foolishness of the Academy in witholding an Oscar in fear of controversy was later exposed by an older and more embittered Kermit, in his 1993 director/writer debut short entitled simply "Pondlife", an autobiographical return to form which revealed the story of his consequent lack of self esteem and alcohol problems, leading to his eventual divorce from manhattan co-star Miss Piggy. Piggy herself has since written a series of well received self-help books.

I personally don't think it is QUITE as good as Muppet Movie or Great Muppet Caper, and one or two scenes towards the beginning could have been better paced, but along with those two Muppet movies, Christmas Carol and Treasure Island, The Muppets Take Manhattan is one of the better Muppet movies by far. It has a great story, different but still a fun one, bouncy songs especially It's Time for Saying Goodbye and the superb Together Again, the Manhattan locations are clever and truly stunning and the cameos from the likes of Liza Minelli, Joan Rivers, Brooke Shields and Gregory Hines are fun personified. And the Muppet performers are once again spot on, and any scene with Miss Piggy especially is a joy. Overall, terrific fun and recommended. 8.5/10 Bethany Cox