-Caveat Lector-
Muppets From Space
By Stephen Whitty
NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE
July 13 - Those little Teletubbies can sit around and wait to be outed,
but
not the Great Gonzo. When he comes out of the closet, it's by choice. So
these days he's saying it loud and proud: He's an extraterrestrial.
"I DIDN'T CHOOSE to be one," he explains to a sympathetic Kermit.
"I've always had alien tendencies." And with that revelation, "Muppets
From
Space" is pretty much off on a goofy, good-humored trek through identity
crises, show-biz cliches and the timeless love of a pig for a frog. Of
course there are complications as Gonzo searches for acceptance. Prying TV
news crews soon descend on the sleepy Muppet mansion. So, too, do the nuts
and flakes of the nation's UFO cults. And before long there are some real
Men in Black who want to spirit Gonzo away and take a peek at his brain.
Can the Muppets survive? Quelle question! Never underestimate the
power of a few well-placed karate kicks from an enraged pig. A better
question, though, is: How has the world of kids' movies survived so long
without them?
Although the Muppets haven't been absent from the screen for very
long (their last appearance was in 1996), their last few films have been
half-hearted pastiches, parodies of old stories like "A Christmas Carol"
and
"Treasure Island." The jokes were beginning to get a little labored and
hinted at a creative team running out of steam.
"Muppets From Space," however, returns the funny, fuzzy crowd to a
contemporary setting. It adds a few medium-level guest stars (Andie
MacDowell proves herself to be a very good sport) and throws in an armful
of
entertainment references (there are nods to everything from "Independence
Day" to "Dawson's Creek"). Although the usual original musical numbers have
been replaced by some well-worn '70s funk, the mood of the old "The Muppet
Movie" and "The Muppets Take Manhattan" is back
The new "Muppets From Space" misses some of the surprising star
power
of those early pictures (it'd be more of a shock if people like F. Murray
Abraham and Ray Liotta weren't in this). It's also missing some of those
movies' wild punning and crazy wordplay. Still, director Tim Hill, a
veteran
of TV's Nickelodeon, keeps things moving, and the Muppets consistently
deliver.
There are some surprises, too. Kermit predictably remains the
gee-whiz Jimmy Stewart of the bunch, and Miss Piggy its temperamental diva.
But who would have thought Gonzo would step into his first starring role
with such surprising ease, and that Rizzo the Rat might provide such solid
comic support? Or that newcomer Pepe the Prawn would so nearly steal the
show from both?
Not moi. So let the older sibs go see "The Phantom Menace" for their
11th time this week, if they have to. Let the gullible middle-schoolers get
hyped into seeing "Wild, Wild West." Take the younger ones to "Muppets From
Space" instead. They'll have a much better time. And so will you.
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"Muppets from Space" opens Wednesday and is rated G
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