Muppets, murders and Melissa McCarthy

BY GENNA NORDLING

“The Happytime Murders” is a raunchy spin on the beloved “Muppets” franchise. Starring Melissa McCarthy, Elizabeth Banks and Maya Rudolph, the crime comedy cracked some good jokes, but the rest of the movie was too dirty to actually laugh.

Phil Philips (a puppet) and Connie Edwards (portrayed by Melissa McCarthy) cross paths when Philips is found at the crime scene of what seemed to be a robbery. However, the scene turned out to be the first of many murders among the cast of the TV Show “The Happytime Gang.”

When the police department calls upon Philips to help, Edwards faces a dilemma because of their history as police partners from 20 years prior. The backstory is complicated, but it is gradually explained throughout the movie.

For a movie about puppets, the plot was surprisingly entertaining.

But the backstory only explains the history between Philips and Edwards. Though the movie highlights the mistreatment of puppets by society, it never explains why puppets are living amongst humans. That key piece of information would allow the audience to buy into the movie and truly immerse themselves in it. Without the explanation of how puppets are living, it makes the audience feel separated from the film and creates an uninteresting opening.

For a movie about puppets, the plot was surprisingly entertaining. Watching the two ex-partners work together again was intriguing and presented a fun dynamic to the movie. The movie ended with a surprising plot twist and hilariously captivating action scene. However, just because there was an amusing plot does not mean the movie was fantastic.

It was very hard to watch the raunchy, explicit scenes that were scattered throughout the movie. All of these scenes were very unnecessary and, frankly, disgusting. The scenes that were particularly hard to watch contained puppets performing sexual acts. The puppets also participated in drug usage and smoking, which weren’t as repulsive but still difficult to watch.

While there were scenes that utilized written or slapstick comedy, the majority of the so-called “funny moments” of the movie relied on the shock value of puppets doing things that would be considered “adult.” This was the movie’s greatest downfall. Adult humor is not for everyone, and it’s risky to rely on shock value as comedic effect in a movie with characters that seemingly belong on a children’s TV show.

It was very hard to watch the raunchy, explicit scenes that were scattered throughout the movie.

While the adult audience the movie targets was excited about the movie’s release, the company behind “Sesame Street” did not share the same enthusiasm. The company sued “The Happytime Murders” because they used the phrase “No Sesame. All Street.” in their ad campaign.

“Sesame Street” lost the lawsuit because they could not prove to the judge that the slogan would confuse consumers. It would be terrible if a parent accidentally brought their children to this movie because of how disgustingly vulgar it is.

Overall, “The Happytime Murders” has an interesting plot, but it is drowned out by the vulgar and disgusting scenes and language found all throughout the film. There may be some funny moments, but it is mostly a gross movie relying solely on shock value scenes.

Photo courtesy of STX Entertainment