Muppets Most Wanted - B-

Rated PG, 113 minutes

Cheerful, silly "Muppets Most Wanted" follows the Muppets overseas

Miss Piggy

It's time to get things started again with the Muppets gang sequel on the heels of the hit 2012 Disney revitalization "The Muppets." The peppy, silly "Muppets Most Wanted" is not the Muppets at their most sensational or inspirational, and while not as good as the 2012 film, it has some genuinely amusing, witty moments. This outing takes the entire Muppets gang on a European tour but mayhem follows them overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine—the World’s Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit—and his dastardly sidekick Dominic "Number Two" Badguy (Ricky Gervais). Directed by James Bobin and co-written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller, who helmed and co-wrote the 2012 film, this one is as energetic and silly as ever, though it's occasionally too busy and stuffed with too much onscreen for kids to grasp at one time. Interestingly, it also covers similar ground as the Muppets 1981 film, "The Great Muppet Caper" though this film is filled with livelier humans and some nice, but unnecessary, musical numbers that seem to drag it out a little. All the gang is back in fine form, including Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Beaker and Animal, though the humans have fun too. Gervais, Tina Fey and "Modern Family's" Ty Burrell are all a hoot (but no Jason Segel or Amy Adams!), not to mention loads of star-studded cameos of mostly musical stars, ranging from Gaga to Diddy to Celine Dion, as well as Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz doing the waltz and Salma Hayek running with the (Muppet) bulls. It's all amusing (it's especially cute seeing Muppets with legs) in what is essentially a Good Kermit vs. Bad Kermit story yet "Most Wanted" goes on too long for something geared toward the kiddoes, and they might lose interest in the saggy mid-section until it picks up for a funny, well-staged climax. "Muppets Most Wanted" is enjoyable fun and a solid, clean family film, though still not the best Muppets film, which in my opinion is "Muppets Take Manhattan." It also reveals what we've known for years. Give Animal his own movie. Now that would be both sensational and inspirational.

Wes's Grade: B-