La grande aventure des Muppets

Jim Hensons' beloved Muppet characters again light up the screen in this, their second feature vehicle. Kermit and Fozzie play "twin" reporters who travel with photographer friend Gonzo to London. Kermit intends to interview fashion mogul Lady Holliday (Diana Rigg), whose precious jewels are being targeted by thieves. He gets distracted when he falls in love with Miss Piggy, a wannabe fashion model who agrees to take a receptionist job for Lady Holliday. The requisite villain is a hilarious Charles Grodin, playing Lady Holliday's ne'er-do-well brother Nicky. In order to foil him and his accomplices (all models), Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo must rely on the permanent residents of the extremely dilapidated Happiness Hotel.

As a lifetime fan of the Muppets, this viewer will admit that the movie does go on a bit long, and contains a few too many musical numbers. (Although the Esther Williams-style water ballet with Miss Piggy is indeed a hoot.) If anything, though, this movie comes off as even funnier to this viewer as an adult due to all the "meta" moments, where the Muppets acknowledge that they're in a movie. There are many inspired gags, such as Kermit "shaving" despite having no hair to speak of (there's no blade in the thing!). Even in 2018, an age when so many things are rendered digitally, the effects magic that makes the Muppets appear to ride bicycles is impressive.

The movie gets off to a great start, with Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo riding a hot air balloon while the opening credits play out. Kermit tells the worried Fozzie that they'll be over in a few minutes.

Many of the Muppet characters get a brief hysterical moment of their own, including some of this viewers' own favourites, like the Swedish Chef, Animal, Statler and Waldorf, and Rowlf.

Adding value to the shenanigans are a couple of cameo appearances: Jack Warden, Robert Morley, John Cleese, Peter Falk, and especially Peter Ustinov, who's one of the recipients of Miss Piggy's classic "Hi-YAAAAAH!" routine. And keep your eyes peeled for Jim Henson himself, at about the 43 minute mark as a restaurant patron.

Overall, good fun for Muppet fans, with a generous dose of genuinely funny lines.

Seven out of 10.

The Muppets are often a delight. I say that as an adult male- I still think they're great. The Muppet Movie (1979) is a classic and very funny. When The Muppet Movie VHS release was advertised, the second Muppet film, The Great Muppet Caper (1981), was trumpeted along with it. That set the bar high, and unfortunately, it didn't click with me well as a child.

You might attribute that to drab scenery (the newspaper office and the Happiness Hotel) and costumes (Kermit and Fozzie are none too appealing in this), and themes of newspaper writing and jewel thievery that aren't going to attract every child. Having rewatched The Great Muppet Caper now, I've come around on it, or at least the first half. The film starts strong with numerous funny gags, but runs out of steam. We have some humorous self-references and Gonzo being reckless, and then as we get into the film we have dubious claims Kermit and Fozzie are identical twins, and much fun over how bad the Happiness Hotel is. The British couple who barely register Miss Piggy climbing their walls are a riot. After that, particularly when Miss Piggy begins her dancing and modelling scenes, the film begins to drag and the story isn't all that strong. There are still some laughs in it, but this isn't the Muppets' best showing.

The second theatrical outing of the popular "Muppet Show" TV characters relocates the action to London, as reporters Kermit The Frog and Fozzie Bear and photographer Gonzo are reluctantly sent by their editor Jack Warden to investigate the robbery of a famous jeweled necklace worn by unsympathetic fashion queen Diana Rigg. The culprit turns out to be her own obnoxious brother Charles Grodin and his trio of burglar-models; Grodin seems to have the hots for Miss Piggy (at one point singing his heart out to her but she puts down his effort by revealing that the actor's voice was dubbed!), a model wannabe engaged as Rigg's secretary and who ends up impersonating her boss to impress Kermit. The change in locale adds precious little to the table and, truth be told, the film tends to sag badly during its midsection (with too many schmaltzy songs for balance). However, when the film is funny, it's frequently hilarious: the in-jokey commentary by the trio of reporters accompanying the opening credits; their traveling to London in a plane's luggage compartment inside boxes denoting their species (Gonzo is a "Whatever") and their being thrown off the plane in mid-flight eventually landing at Robert Morley's feet; the eccentric and inquisitive guests at the Happiness Hotel; Miss Piggy's central musical number is an amusing pastiche of old Esther Williams aquatic routines; Miss Piggy's run-in with lorry driver Peter Ustinov (who complains, after being thrown into the garbage, that his is only a cameo), etc. Ex-Monty Python John Cleese also appears as a henpecked husband who thinks nothing of glimpsing a pig climbing the walls of his apartment building.

Anglophile that I am, I love "The Great Muppet Caper," and think I might like it even more than the original "Muppet Movie."

The gang find themselves foiling the plot of a group of crack diamond thieves led by Charles Grodin, and it's a hoot to watch the slick, professional thieves' preparations and actions juxtaposed to the loud, crude antics of the Muppets. There's a pretty funny musical number that finds Miss Piggy ripping off Esther Williams, and another lovely song performed while the entire group goes bike riding. Long before the days of jacked up special effects when anything can be done using a computer, I remember being astounded by the fact that this special effects team could make the Muppets ride bicycles. Ah, what a more innocent time....

Grade: A

This is one of my all-time favorites! I am 23 and I still need to view this movie at least once a year. Jim Henson was at the height of his creative powers when this was made, and it shows brilliantly. As opposed to "The Muppet Movie", the songs aren't as dated, and the celebrity cameos have been cut back which lessens the distraction from the Muppets themselves. The cameos of John Cleese, Sir Peter Ustinov, Sir Robert Morley, and Jack Warden all are funny and fit the plot's movement. The highest performance praise though, must go to Dame Diana Rigg and Charles Grodin, who may have deserved an Academy Award for being the only human ever to attempt to make love to Miss Piggy! ("Miss Piggy, don't put a wall between us...we could have had the world on a silver platter") I also love the music, especially the number in the Dubonett Club, which harkens back to the old-time musicals, with just a hint of satire. Even after seeing "The Score" and "Ocean's 11", the Muppet heist scene is still the most entertaining I've ever seen! My advice is swallow your pride, grab the kids, and "check right in, to the Happiness Hotel"! (SAY CHEESE!)