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Geez. How could anybody get mad enough to blow anything up in a world that has Muppets? There’s so much charm to spending time with the late, great, Jim Henson’s little ping-pong-eyed creations -- it’s like getting to chase the Hamburglar around McDonaldsland or something. And while Muppets from Space isn’t quite the treat as some of their outings in the past, it’s still a genuine hoot.
This time out, the Great Gonzo has been plagued by a recurring nightmare in which Noah won’t let him on the ark because he’s one of a kind. Falling deeper into a funk in a household where everybody but him, even Animal, has a family picture on the mantlepiece, he’s getting desperate to find his roots. But today his Captain Alphabet breakfast cereal spells out “R U THERE” in pastel colors, and soon he’s beset by visions of aliens coming to take him home. Unfortunately, a secret E.T.-hunting government organization run by K. Edgar Singer (get it? Singer? Hoover? notorious FBI chief? vacuum cleaners? sewing machines? what’s wrong with you people? “What’s a documentary?”), played by Jeffrey Tambor (who looks like a big alien Muppet himself), intercepts the messages and kidnaps Gonzo. It’s up to Kermit, Piggy, Rizzo, Fozzie, Animal, and a hopelessly goofy new character named Pepe the Prawn to stage a rescue. Armed with secret Muppet Labs devices such as “Door in a Jar” and a rubber ducky full of short-term invisibility spray, they infiltrate the facility, manned by lots of trademark cameo actors (wouldn’t you commit any act short of murder to work with Kermit?), to try and save Gonzo and get him to his close encounter.
Which is all just too much fun. Sure, Muppets from Space is full of silly gags and eye-rolling Henny Youngman jokes, but they all work. Well, almost all. A slightly higher rating would be in order were it not for some concessions to popular rude humor, as when Miss Piggy puts a below-the-belt WCW move on one of the bad guys, but those are thankfully few and brief. (Speaking of which, Hollywood Hogan shows up in one scene to further prove he’s going to have to start eating more brain food if he seriously hopes to emulate Jesse Ventura’s political success.) Wrap it up in a soundtrack full of James Brown, Billy Preston, Earth Wind & Sky and the like, toss in choreography by Toni “Hey Micky” Basil, and it’s more fun than Disneyworld, with no standing in line. And if that weren’t enough, in a few months we can look forward to The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland...which, coming long enough after the Tickle-Me Elmo craze that maybe you’ve forgotten swathing the little demon in duct tape the day after giving it to your kid for Christmas and stuffing it into the trash compactor right before telling Jennifer/Jason that “Elmo won a trip to Outward Bound, and won’t be back until after you graduate medical school,” also looks pretty cool. B
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