The Happytime Murders review: Melissa McCarthy leads the human and puppet cast of this rather lacklustre adult comedy from Brian Henson.
The Happytime Murders review by Jazmine Sky Bradley.
Brian Henson, the son of legendary puppeteer and all-around genius Jim Henson. Director of 1990s classics The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island. Felt flows through this man’s veins. He knows his Muppet puppets inside out (literally). So, it should be good news that Brian’s back at the helm, this time with naughty-but-nice ‘adult’ Muppet movie The Happytime Murders, right? Wrong, sadly.
Phil Philips (Bill Barretta) – private investigator, former LAPD officer, puppet. Kicked off the force for undisclosed circumstances, Philips now takes on shady cases in LA’s underworld, supported by ditzy PA Bubbles (Maya Rudolph). Phil likes a drink, a smoke, and an attractive lady, so when sassy redhead Sandra Jakoby (Dorien Davis) struts into his office and asks him to find out who’s blackmailing her, he’s happy to ablige. However, Sandra’s predicament quickly becomes old news for Phil when members of popular televsion show The Happytime Gang start being killed off, and he finds himself in the middle of the mess, asked to track down the murderer with ex-partner and apparent mortal enemy Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy). With the killer closing in on the Gang‘s remaining members, can Phil and Connie put their differences and history aside to save the day and stop further fluff shed?
With an impressive supporting cast, including Elizabeth Banks, Joel McHale and Leslie David Baker, you may have high hopes for The Happytime Murders. Don’t. The premise and promise of puppets are enough to draw in old fans and new, but with a dry script full of lacklustre jokes, Henson and friends are off the mark.
After the huge success of Broadway hit Avenue Q, a collaboration of humans, puppets and dirty jokes, it was obvious that audiences who grew up alongside the Muppets were ready for more – we wanted to know that they’d grown up alongside us. While Avenue Q was dirty, it was also incredibly clever, laugh-out-loud funny, and slyly political (when I saw it off-Broadway in 2017, Trump received a name drop during its closing number, and not for any positive reason, obviously). Any puppeteers attempting to emulate its success would be invited to have a go, and Henson’s clearly taken a hit at it. Sadly, while Avenue Q was funny and raunchy, The Happytime Murders is neither. A couple of sexy jokes, one including a spray can of silly string, the odd laugh here and there. It just doesn’t live up to what’s paved the way previously.
As for the film’s human faces, McCarthy plays to type as she’s done for most of her Hollywood career – loudmouthed, brash, annoying. Rudolph as Bubbles, Phil’s silly but smart personal assistant, is entertaining, but with everything else lacking, she’s hardly a saving grace. Banks et al. have mere minutes of screentime, nowhere near enough for them to attempt to save their castmates from drowning under a wave of fake hair, googly eyes and a severe lack of laughs.
The Happytime Murders may have an exciting, promising premise at its core, but in reality, it’s 90 minutes you could use to rewatch an old Jim Henson/Muppets classic instead.
The Happytime Murders reviewed by Jazmine Sky Bradley.
The Happytime Murders is released in the UK on Monday, 27th August 2018.
