Okay, this review might be pretty brief. I was never really a Muppets fan until the 2011 reboot. A lot of people fell in love with the film, myself included., and it had a sense of nostalgia to rival Toy Story 3. But now that the Muppets are back together, how does the sequel hold up?

The Muppets are led on a world tour by their new manager Dominic Badguy (It’s French. Really. You will go on your world tour, and then there will be cake.) But Kermit ends up being kidnapped and replaced with a doppleganger called Constantine, and from then on it’s just one subplot after another.

One problem with the film for me is the fact that it’s a smudge too long and has a few too many characters. It can be hard to keep track of everyone and every single plot point. But while some people may be willing to forgive an abundant cast if they all have funny things to say, I think this film tries to be more serious than it should. I almost feel like the film would work better as a live action musical with no muppets, so that we could just focus on the story and songs, and not try to focus on the hit and miss humor.

The main attraction of this movie is the songs. Brett MacKenzie is right at home making these songs, and while some people may disagree on which song is the best, for me, it can only be “Something So Right,” which may have a shot at an Oscar come next year.

By and large, there’s never anything wrong with Muppets Most Wanted, it just fails to bring anything new to the plate like the previous film did. Definitely not a bad film. If you’re a muppet fan, this might be an enjoyable film to add to your collection. But as the muppets themselves say, the sequel is never quite as good as the original. Worth seeing, but only as a rental.

***1/2

Okay, who else wants to see a fan-fiction based solely what happened to the family in that short film?