Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

While on a grand world tour, The Muppets find themselves wrapped into an European jewel-heist caper headed by a Kermit the Frog look-alike and his dastardly sidekick.

Director:

James Bobin

Writers:

James Bobin, Nicholas Stoller,

Stars:

Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, Tina Fey

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ricky Gervais	...	Dominic Badguy
Ty Burrell	...	Jean Pierre Napoleon
Tina Fey	...	Nadya
Steve Whitmire	...	Kermit the Frog / Foo Foo / Statler / Beaker / Lips / Rizzo the Rat / Link Hogthrob / The Newsman (voice)
Eric Jacobson	...	Miss Piggy / Fozzie Bear / Sam Eagle / Animal (voice)
Dave Goelz	...	The Great Gonzo / Dr. Bunsen Honeydew / Zoot / Beauregard / Waldorf (voice)
Bill Barretta	...	Pepe the King Prawn / Rowlf the Dog / Dr. Teeth / The Swedish Chef / Bobo the Bear / Big Mean Carl / Baby Boss / Carlo Flamingo / Leprechaun Security Guard (voice)
David Rudman	...	Scooter / Janice / Miss Poogy / Bobby Benson / Wayne (voice)
Matt Vogel	...	Constantine / Floyd Pepper / Sweetums / Pops / Robin / Lew Zealand / Crazy Harry / 80's Robot / Camilla / Uncle Deadly (voice)
Peter Linz	...	Walter / Manolo Flamingo (voice)
Tony Bennett	...	Himself
Hugh Bonneville	...	Irish Journalist
William Brand	...	Berliner #2
Andrés Cantor	...	Announcer
Jemaine Clement	...	Prison King

Storyline

Flush with their revival's success, Kermit the Frog and his friends are approached by Dominic Badguy to go on a world tour. Unknown to them, this is all part of the sinister plan of Constantine, the world's most evil frog, to become the greatest thief of all time. After making sure that Kermit is jailed as himself, Constantine impersonates him to use the Muppets' tour as cover for his scheme. While Sam the Eagle and Inspector Jean Pierre Napoleon investigate, the Muppets find their boss seems strangely changed even as Kermit desperately attempts to escape to stop the impostor. Only when Walter, Fozzie and Animal realize the truth is there a chance to prevent Constantine from pulling off the crime of the century.

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Plot Keywords:

prison break | europe | frog | the muppets | world tour | 

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Taglines:

2 Frogs 1 Pig Epic Mayhem

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Family | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

21 March 2014 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Muppets 2: Los más buscados

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$17,005,126 (USA) (21 March 2014)

Gross:

$51,178,893 (USA) (11 July 2014)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Mandeville Films, Babieka

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the end of the "We're Doing a Sequel" song, Walter suggests calling the movie "Muppets Again." "Muppets... Again!" was indeed the working title all through filming, but was changed last minute.

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Quotes

Constantine: It's time to light the lights.
[Detonates explosives]

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Crazy Credits

After the credits roll Fozzie Bear comes out and says, "You can go home now Ma!"

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Connections

References The Flintstones (1960)

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Soundtracks

End Of The Road
Written by Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds, L.A. Reid, and Daryl Simmons
Produced by Ed Mitchell
Performed by Jemaine Clement, Ray Liotta and and Danny Trejo

User Reviews

Addressing the films "CGI" and compositing.

I think it may also be possible that audiences are not able to effectively articulate their complaints about "CG use". Often any digital manipulation including compositing will be termed "CG". Full-body Muppets composited in post production are not a new realm for the Muppets, however Muppets Most Wanted marks the first time they have been used this extensively and for scenes involving such a significant range of articulation not typically seen from Muppets in any non-composited scenes. I'd argue that part of what makes the Muppets so endearing are their inherent limitations. In spite of significant efforts from a lot of talented people, many of the composited scenes, in particular the "stunt action" sequences come off as a betrayal to those endearing Muppet qualities. The Muppets have more subtly and effectively incorporated compositing effects, however the compositing work in this film was more often sub par, and not just for these full-body Muppet effects. The quality of compositing work was TV movie caliber, not of a 2014 Hollywood blockbuster. I found the compositing work in the final number so terrible that it distracted from all the good things going on there. Movie making technology is continually improving, and puppetry in cinema should certainly embrace those advancements, but perhaps with more subtle incorporation. I believe anything that distracts the viewer from the character and they story negates the effect. "Just because you can doesn't mean you should".