Just saw it now and I loved it!! I’m 40 and I’ll ever get tired of the rainbow connection. See it, it’s just what you may need.
Saw it this morning. I loved it; my kids enjoyed it but not as much as the adults. Loved all the cameos.
Neal Patrick Harris: “yeah, I don’t know why I’m not hosting this either.” 
Really fun movie. I loved the opening number and the “Muppet or a Man” song - both written by Brett “Flight of the Conchords” McKenzie I think.
Ooops, that was “never get tired of…”
Jason Segal seems so much like a muppet in his own way and Amy Adams (Eeeeee!!) already is a Disney princess, so they’re cute together.
Also, Kermit’s robotic manservant from the '80s is a great throwback gag too.
“May I suggest we save time by finding other Muppets using a montage??”
We saw it yesterday and I agree it was well done and mostly fit in with the spirit of the classic Muppet movies. It had some very funny jokes that were definitely in the classic Muppet style, and some odd and bits that didn’t totally work. The most affecting part for me wasn’t really getting the Muppets back together because that was an inevitability. It was the half hour or so where they dealt with the Muppets sort of fading from the scene. Because of course, what happened wasn’t that the Muppets stopped getting along - they couldn’t even entirely pretend that was what happened - it’s that Jim Henson died too young and the franchise gradually lost steam in the years after that. And it’s also true that tastes in children’s entertainment have changed- how could they not?
But to that end it was nice to see a fairly prominent picture of Henson and Kermit in Kermit’s house and also to hear Henson’s voice during the end credits when they used the original recording of Mahna Mahna. If you grew up watching the Muppets it’s hard not to feel a pang of sadness or oddness whenever Kermit or Rowlf’s voices seem particularly different from the originals. (I don’t follow the comings and goings of Muppeteers but you could tell Frank Oz wasn’t in this one either.) It’s obvious throughout the movie that Segel and the other filmmakers really love the Muppets and what they represent, which was great and certainly made it a better movie. It’s also true that The Muppets is really about how great the Muppets are, which is… a little weird. Essentially the movie is a piece of fanfiction, and I’m not saying that to be negative- it’s just what it is. The place it got a little awkward is that Walter was doing a lot of the inspiring-other-people stuff that Kermit usually does. It left Kermit without as much to do on his own.
The movie did also put more emphasis on the humans than a Muppet movie usually does. You don’t really watch a Muppet movie for the people, but the Gary and Walter relationship was handled well, though. There were some good celebrity cameos and Chris Cooper made a very good villain. It turns out he can sing, too, but the rapping really didn’t fit into the movie and the inclusion of a barbershop quartet version of Smells Like Teen Spirit (which required eliminating almost all of the lyrics) and an all-chicken version of Fuck You (no lyrics at all) didn’t really work- which made it feel like they were trying too hard to prove there’s a place for the Muppets in contemporary entertainment. If the movie’s good, I think that takes care of itself. For that matter I could have done with one or two more new songs for the movie and a few less famous songs (We Built This City is horrible) that didn’t need to be there in the first place. The new songs they did have, particularly Man or Muppet, were definitely good.
Wasn’t it Family Guy’s Stewie who said
Jim Hensen is dead and now we have wrong sounding Muppets 
We just got back from it. I loved it! I swear, as soon as the opening plinks of Rainbow Connection started, my eyes misted up and things optical did NOT get better. If they’d superimposed the rainbow like they did at the end of the original Muppet Movie I’d have lost it, I think. Then I misted up again with all the people in the street after.
God, I’m such a sap!
And the cameo by Jim Parsons as Walter the muppet’s human equivalent made me laugh and laugh.
Absolutely agreed.
I didn’t even know there was a new Muppets movie until the SDMB told me. I enjoyed the show. The theme is my default ringtone on my cell phone. I have the first season on DVD. But I’m not a rabid fan who feels compelled to rush out and see the movie.
I’ll wait and read more opinions on it before deciding if we’re going to spend the (not insignificant) money to see it in the theater.
We saw it this evening. It made me very happy. I thought Jason Siegal and Amy Adams were perfect, I loved the cameos, and I was so happy that the Rainbow Connection was in there. I actually really liked the barbershop quartet and the chickens doing Cee-Lo.
The Cars 2 billboard? That I could have lived without.
I’m 32 and kidless and saw it today with my mom. Loved loved loved it! Of course it’ll never be my favorite but I was so happy to get new Muppet stuff … Mixed gently with OLD Muppet stuff … It made my year!
The whole crowd was kids and parents it seemed. Younger than me and mom of course
Oh and the “Man or Muppet” song was SO Flight of the Conchords!!
I am a huge Muppet fan, and I loved it, as did my kids. It was sweet, and a bit sad. God, I miss Jim Henson…
My fiancee and I took my mom to see it on Thanksgiving Day. Had a great time. Enjoyed everything referenced already in this thread. My mom’s comment afterwards was that she was trying not to cry. It’s only been a couple of years since I got to see the original Muppet Movie in the theater out here, so I enjoyed a lot of the throwbacks. Great time!
The voice that seemed the most “off” to me was Rowlf’s. But he speaks very little in the film.
I loved the ‘Travel by Map’ - wish it was a real option.
This was a campy, cheesy movie, and it reveled in it’s camp and cheese. It was also a beautiful, touching movie, and had Jim Henson’s spirit everywhere. (jayjay you were not the only one who got misty eyed.) Plus it was funny, and a good time was had by all. You really couldn’t ask for more & I plan to see it again.
…well… I’m going to say two things.
- It was REALLY fun.
- It was straight up fan-fiction by Jason Segel. How is “Walter” not a Mary Sue?
Except that it still involved getting wet. . .
Celtling was terrified by the scene in the oil baron’s office. I managed to convince her to hang in there a bit longer, but then a sad song started and she just lost it. : Sigh : Now I’ll have to buy another ticket. 
I was terribly unimpressed by the dysfunction in the line " . . .it forces me to say things that hurt you." Seriously, that is not a relationship dynamic I want millions of children to internalize. I hope the ending somehow unwound it?
Also, was anyone else thinking “This is The Blues Brothers for kids!” ?
Was anyone else thinking that the imitation-Fozzy moopet’s voice might have been referencing that Family Guy scene?
Anyone notice that the Moopets-Animal was Dave Grohl?
One of my favorite moments came courtesy of Animal:In . . . (with increasing difficulty) . . . con . . . (with excruciating difficulty) . . . trol!(Animal + that concept = exploding head.)