Only a Muppet takes a 4 year old to the cinema!

Sunday 23rd March 2014.



“Its time to play the music, its time to light the lights.
Its time to take my son to the cinema tonight!”

Well, almost. This morning, courtesy of Bristol's Jack FM, I took an excited 4 year old on his first cinema trip to see Muppets Most Wanted (U). We were up early as usual and as the ultra prepared mummy I popped a packet of microwave popcorn, gathered some drinks and put a little packet of sweeties into a bag to take with us and save us some money. Being a Sunday morning it was easy to get into town and a bonus that we could park for free on the single yellow lines around Portland Square. Our destination of the Showcase Cinema De Lux was two minutes walk away although having avoided the shopping centre that is Cabot Circus until now it took a little while to navigate our way up two floors to the cinema entrance.



Upon arriving we checked in with the Jack FM crew, who gave my little'un a Jack pirate hat and Muppets poster, then went to queue for refreshments. My son wouldn't have minded not having anything but I'm a sucker for an Ice Blast so we had two of them and two portions of chips (at 10am on a Sunday morning! No wonder my waist band is expanding at a rate of knots). I then had a panic about how to get ourselves down to the screen with our haul but the cinema staff were most helpful and offered to carry some of our things for us. Once we were seated Downsy and Simon from Jack FM's breakfast show (That Morning Thing) welcomed us all to the private screening and gave away some promo goodies to some of the kids. Luckily mine was content with his chips and drink and didn't kick off at not getting a Kermit cap or watch.

I wasn't sure how the film would go down with either of us and to be honest, expected boredom and disappointment. My son had previously seen a few Muppet films on the TV at home but they never really kept his interest that well, or mine for that matter. The only one I've ever rated was The Muppet's Christmas Carol - a Christmas classic among my family and friends. My son and I both enjoyed the Monsters Inc. short before the main feature began and I was particularly pleased at the lack of adverts as this is normally a horrific 15 minute slog at the start of any cinema experience.

The film began and although I was aware that the lead human role was played by Ricky Gervais (The Office, Extras, The Invention of Lying) I wasn't aware of any of the other famous faces staring throughout; Ty Burrell, Tina Fey and (most excitingly for me) Danny Trejo who's other numerous films credits include Desperado, From Dusk til Dawn, Machete and just about any other Hollywood role that requires a machismo Mexican! Gervais plays Dominic Badguy, the Muppets' agent but also sidekick to Constantine, a Kermit look-a-like and criminal mastermind. A little staged in places, particularly his singing number, Gervais keeps it straight throughout and sticks to the character demanded by the film. Trejo has a prevalent backing part throughout the film (playing himself) as a convict in the Siberian Gulag where Kermit is mistakenly imprisoned and he acts this comical part as entertainingly as any of his more serious roles.

The cameo surprises continued to amuse me throughout the film in the usual Muppets' style; Lady Gaga, Jermaine Clement (Flight of the Concords), Sean Coombs (aka Puff Daddy), Usher, Miranda Richardson, Russell Tovey, James McAvoy, Ray Liotta, Josh Groban, Mackenzie Crook and Salma Hayek to name but a few. Another great traditional Muppets' feature was the musical cameo, this time a ballad featuring Celine Dion singing alongside Miss Piggy and shot in the style of one of Dion's music videos, which brought yet another smile to my face.

All in all I'd rate the film as a success - it kept both me and the 4 year old entertained throughout - and the trip as a whole was a triumphant one! We only required one toilet break which was a miracle considering the size of the Ice Blast consumed. There weren't any points during the show where I dozed off or thought to check my watch, and the storyline flowed nicely and wrapped up pretty neatly. The Muppets are back on track entertaining across the generations with this film (and the humans didn't do too badly either) so unusually for me its one I'd recommend.