The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
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Movie Reviews of The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
Movie Review: Any relation to Frank Oz?
Summary: 2 Stars
After seeing nearly every other movie verion of Wizard Of Oz, I figured I might as well get around to doing the Muppets one too. Since Kermit and friends already knocked over A Christmas Carol and Treasure Island, it was probably going to be this or an Alice In Wonderland adaptation. Originally meant to be a made-for-TV movie, this was released on DVD as an extended feature with some material not used in the original broadcast, which included some rather mature stuff for an intended "family" film. For this time around, Dorothy Gale(played by Ashanti)is a young waitress(did Tin Man steal this?)who wants to be a pop singer. After failing to get it to an audition for the Muppets, Dorothy heads back home to her trailer park, which gets swept off to Oz by a tornado. Once there, her pet prawn Toto(yep, prawn)has evolved into a larger talking prawn. The Munchkins are actually rats, although they're called Munchkins here, who are watched over by the Good Witch of the North(i.e. Miss Piggy). BTW, Piggy plays all the Witches in this. She sends Dorothy off to see the Wizard with her dead sisters' shoes. Along the way, Dorothy befriends Scarecrow(Kermit), Tin Man(Gonzo), and the Lion(Fozzie). They manage to get past the heckling Kalidahs(Statler and Waldorf), and the Poppyfield nightclub where the Electric Mayhem jam. After finally arriving at the Emerald City, each of our heroes go in to see the Wizard which takes on a different form for each one. The big Wiz tells them to get the Wicked Witch of the West's magic eye. The Witch has Piggy looking like Cher in biker gear, and uses her magic cap to command the flying monkeys(here a biker gang)to get Dorothy. Dorothy manages to push the Witch into a bathtub which was supposed to be filled with bottled water, but instead melts her. Dorothy and the others take the eye back to the Wizard, who is revealed to be a special effects expert from Hollywood and not really a wizard. He however makes it possible for Dorothy to be a celebrity in Oz, and gives the others their own hearts' desires. Dorothy realizes that she really wants to go back home though, so they head back to Munchkinland to get help from Glinda(also Piggy). She then uses her magic footwear to go back to Kansas, where the Muppets hire her on their Star Search ripoff show. This was ultimately a decent movie, although it seemed to be a bit lacking in both style and substance from most Muppet productions. There was just too many pop culture parodies thrown in, like it was trying too much to be like Shrek. Plus, there was some stuff in this that was definately not for kids, like the phrase "bitchslap", or Kermit bringing up The Passion while being nailed up on the pole as a scarecrow. Ashanti wasn't bad as Dorothy, which apparently helped her later on to get in a recent production of The Wiz. I was mostly impressed though that the movie actually followed the original novel a little more than most adaptations did, like the East Witch being called Tattypoo which didn't even come up until the Ruth Thompson novels, as well as the West Witch only having one eye. I'd recommend this one at least as a rental or legal download.Movie Review: Absolutely, postively SCREAMED potential. ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY... eh heh heh
Summary: 2 Stars
OK, who do I think I am saying such a thing about a Muppet movie? Hey, I've watched enough Muppets to know what's good and what's funny. This ain't it, and it isn't even close. Hey, you know the saying about not judging a book by the cover. The same applies to flicks, because the cover of this alone invites you to an all new world of the classic we've loved for years. I seriously wonder how "Muppet Treasure Island" was so awesome and THIS was so bad. It sucked, plain and simple! I'm thankful that we were able to borrow this from our local library before dishing out our money for this. By the way, the extra star IS simply for potential alone. How does it manage to screw up? Hey, read on!
You think of the Muppets, you're thinkin' ha ha ha!! You watch this and your like eh heh heh, it isn't that funny, and it isn't that innovative. Freakin' Quentin Tarantino made it all the more horrific! But ok, let's take a look at all the potential that could've made this great. Here we go! The opening song with Dorothy was good. But where did it flop? I personally don't know, but it did indeed FLOP. Kermit the Frog is Scarecrow. And of course he has his moments, but it doesn't hit the bulls eye, and misses the mark completely. Gonzo the Great is Tin-Man. Hey, I said this sucked for a reason. Because when Gonzo can point to knobs on his chest and say, "Those are my nipples" with no humorous effect, I can say THIS SUCKS!! Yeah, that's a direct quote from this, I ACTUALLY WATCHED IT! OK? I'll continue. My daughter loves Gonzo, and she was gone by this point. Gonzo wasn't funny. Fozzy Bear as Cowardly Lion, and it could've been great. I'll spare you any details. It wasn't too pretty. I thought it might be tolerable when Statler and Waldorf finally made their intro with their crack or two. Statler and Waldorf's heckling MADE Muppets better every time. This time they made it worse. The biggest disappointment I thought was Miss Piggy, not just as the Wicked Witch, but as ALL THE WITCHES. Now for a little while, it worked. But after some time, she got crappy too! The monkeys were a disgrace in my opinion.
I always saw "The Wizard of Oz" as a thing of beauty, of wonder and enchantment. Of AWE most of the time! I saw this as sheer stupidity! Like I said, they made "Treasure Island" work, and it happens to be a BIG favorite of my daughter's. This just gave her reason to play with her toys. Hey, if we're going to watch The Muppets, give us what we're used to. And that's entertainment! The Muppets are all about the unexpected, and madness hilarity, but they tried WAY too hard this time. It sucks, and I won't waste my time and money on it. No apologies.
Movie Review: Sorely Lacking in Magic
Summary: 2 Stars
The muppets are definitely showing their age, and it's very apparent in this latest offering from the Henson Company.
For years now, they've been trying their best to keep these old favorite characters current, and in doing so have opted to focus on flash and cheap jokes, as opposed to the things that made us fall in love with them in the first place: a sense of nostalgia, a bizarre sense of humor, and heart. None of those things can be found in "The Muppet's Wizard of Oz".
To begin with, the script focuses on cheap jokes and is loaded with modern references aimed at keeping the interest of kids in the X Box generation. The story does little to build the relationships between the characters, or tell Dorothy's story. There's no character development (I guess they assume you've seen the other film, so you don't really need it) and there's just no sentimnetality at all in the script. And while the muppets have always been a tad on the shocking side for kid's fare, this current attempt to be "edgy" comes across as very forced.
Second, the budget on this film was very low, and it shows. The old fashioned techniques that could have really made the story live were replaced with the cheaper, modern techniques of the green screen and computerized characters (the first sequence in the Wizard's chambers is particularly painful to watch). To keep the sets to a bare minimum the final sequence from the book was completely eliminated all the characters were dragged back to Munchkinland where the Witch of the South just HAPPENS to be visiting.
Also, you never really get a sense that the muppets are "alive" in this story. It's more like watching them put on an Oz pageant, than "The Wizard of Oz" with their whimsy and style. "Muppet's Treasure Island" did a far superior job in this aspect. In "Oz" they've just plunked characters into slots without much apparent consideration, or creativity. Rather than munchkins, we get those awful rats traipsing in again and again. Rather than the Kahlidas from the book we get Statler and Waldorf in costume. And instead of winged monkeys we get rather forgettable characters of the muppets ensemble dressed in leather. Where's the beauty and magic of Oz, that drives so much of this story? Where's the wonder, the childlike awe? You won't find it on Ashanti's deadpan face.
In short, there's no originality here, just retreads of things that the muppets have done before. There's no ingenuity, no ingenuity, no "Ahs" in this Oz.
Movie Review: Calm down and get off the P.C Wagon... (HAVE YOU READ ROALD DAHL BOOKS????)
Summary: 2 Stars
Ok it could have been a lot worse, and granted it could have been a lot (WAY!!!) better. I watched this latest outing of the Muppets a couple months ago and felt rather cheated by the end of it. I am used to such adventures as "Muppet Treasure Island" and "A Muppet Christmas Carol"
However I was not too thrilled with this latest escapade, but mainly because the story lacked humour (spelt with an "ou" therefore what to do I know?), as well as a sharp script which appealed to adults, involving jokes which always went above the young one's heads, but always incoprorated jokes which the kids could enjoy.
I do feel that as an audience we have stumbled along the way and have become WAY TOO P.C!!! The one (and few) jokes which made me laugh out loud was poor old Kermit as a Scare Crow making a crack about the "Passion" movie...
I love ROALD DAHL books such as "The Twits", "George's Marvellous Medicine", "The Witches", "Dirty Beasts", and "Revolting Rhymes". Kids loves these books because of their gruesome content, such as heads being hacked off, witches being "frazzled to a fritter!" etc.... it's all good fun...
As for Gonzo having Nipples haven't we all got these? I am an elementary teacher who has taken his pupils (with parent's written consent of course!!!) for weekly swimming lessons and they (and countless others including the paparazzi) have seen mine and no one dropped dead from shock or disgust. (perhaps all "Passion of the Christ" enthusiasts and devote Christians are born without nipples.... who knew???)
But back to the topic at hand, this Muppet caper was well below standard but it upsets me that people jump on their "RELIGIOUS" or "POLITICAL" horses, so that they can get their warped message across......
Personally if I had a choice I would ban all nipples! (sorry did I just contradict myself? - lets face it, they just get in the way and make a fool of you on a cold day! I really must invest more time into these Amazon reviews).
Peace out........ Dr. K xxx
Movie Review: Oh muppets, what happened to you?
Summary: 2 Stars
Old folks like me will recall that what made "The Muppet Show" great was its uniqueness. I recall episodes where Sylvester Stallone and Vincent Price actually sang. Clearly, the muppets were doing their own thing, they weren't interested in being "hip."
Fast forward to "Muppets Wizard of Oz." Singing flavor-of-the-moment Ahsanti stars as Dorothy, a Kansas waitress with visions of stardom. As the opening credits roll, she sings a forgettable song in music-video format (complete with a music video reference). Later, she tells her Aunt 'Em that she wants to go to Hollywood and learn Kaballa, a pop-cultural reference that was already dated by the time of the movie's release.
Soon, Dorothy is whisked off to Oz, a land where pop cultural references pile up like flying monkey guano. Among these is Gonzo explaining to Pepe that the buttons he is pushing on his chest are his nipples. This comment may be the last gasp of the edginess that once made the muppets great. Later, Dorothy steps into a make-over machine and comes out as the talentless daughter of Ozzy Osboune (she's been re-born, or rather, Oz-born, yuck yuck). I'm sure that joke will be twice as funny to new viewers in a year or two, right?
Dorothy eventually announces that she wants to go home, perhaps she was driven off by the staggeringly unfunny jokes that crop up on all sides (see the Osbourne joke above). Although her character elicits no sympathy, the audience wishes her to return home too, just so we can end the movie.
Once, long ago, the muppets succeeded because they made their own rules. This is why their show (season 1 recently released on DVD) and their early movies have retained their charm for the past several decades. "Muppets Wizard of Oz," by contrast, is too interested in being "hip" and "today" to focus on anything else, and will be justly forgotten tomorrow.