Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

Starting right where the previous movie left off, this film follows the continued exploits of the Muppets, as they embark on a world tour (though it's mostly in Europe).

A mysterious man named Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) volunteers his services to manage the Muppets, promising them he can sell out shows for them all across Europe. Against their better judgment, the Muppets accept his offer.

Meanwhile, at a gulag in Siberia, the world's most dangerous frog named Constantine is escaping from his prison, and returning to his partner-in-crime: Dominic Badguy. Constantine looks exactly like Kermit the Frog, except for a mole on his cheek, and the fact that he speaks with a strong Russian accent.

Constantine is almost identical to Kermit the Frog in appearance.

And in a shocking case of mistaken identity, Kermit is arrested - believed to be Constantine - and Constantine masquerades as Kermit, as he and Dominic execute a series of robberies across Europe (in the locations where the Muppets are performing).

Hot on their tail is Interpol officer Jean Pierre Napoleon (Ty Burrell) and CIA Agent Sam the Eagle.

Kermit constantly protests his innocence to prison warden Nadya (Tina Fey), but she won't listen, believing him to be Constantine.

Meanwhile, Constantine is fooling almost all of the Muppets, despite the fact he is nothing like the real Kermit.

Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) buddying up to Kermit the Frog.

Only a small group - Fozzie, Animal and newcomer Walter - feel something isn't right, and they embark on a mission to find Kermit, apprehend Constantine, and return everything to normal again.

The screenplay, by director James Bobin & Nicholas Stoller, is quite good, filled of course with all the classic gags audiences have come to love from the Muppets. The characters are all as clearly defined as ever, and the script accurately represents them as we know them. I especially enjoy Constantine's continued efforts to be seen as Kermit, as he watches old videos of Kermit and echoes back the phrases he hears. Of course, he doesn't do them right, but that's where the humour comes from.

The score by Christophe Beck is well suited to the film, using themes and melodic lines from the original songs - written once again by Bret McKenzie - to tie the whole film together beautifully.

The cast performances are fantastic, and it is difficult to pick a standout from among the human performers. All of them embody their characters with great skill, and given they are all from a background primarily in comedy, have great comic timing too.

Prison warden Nadya (Tina Fey) welcoming Kermit to the gulag with, of course,
a song, joined by the prisoners, including the Prison King (Jemaine Clement).

As with the previous film, there are many great cameos, some of them as short as one line of dialogue, or one line of a song. The best of these cameo performances has got to be Jemaine Clement - Bret McKenzie's former partner in New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords - as the Prison King, one of Kermit's fellow gulag inhabitants.

Director James Bobin has made a wonderfully enjoyable family comedy/musical here, one that I'm sure I will enjoy watching many more times. It's not quite as good as the previous film, then again, sequels rarely are. However, it's still a joy to watch, and the songs are brilliant.

7 out of 10.

Finding Dory (2016)

It is very rare that a sequel will be a better film than the original, but this film – Pixar’s follow-up to its hugely successful 2003 film Finding Nemo – is definitely among that select few.

Blue tang Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) has been living happily with Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his son Nemo (Hayden Rolence) for a year now. One day, while accompanying Nemo and his school friends on a field trip, she suddenly remembers her parents (Eugene Levy & Diane Keaton), and decides to journey across the ocean to find them.

Unfortunately – as viewers of the original film will recall – she suffers from short-term memory loss, and has no idea where to start looking. With only a tiny fragment of memory, she sets out, joined by Marlin and Nemo.

In a repeat of Nemo’s abduction from the first film, she is snatched up into a boat by two humans, and taken to the Marine Life Institute in California.

Believing her parents to be in an exhibit in the Institute, and with the help of an octopus named Hank (Ed O’Neill), and new friends whale shark Destiny (Kaitlin Olson) and beluga whale Bailey (Ty Burrell), she makes her way around the entire Institute, desperate to find them.

Meanwhile, Marlin and Nemo are trying to get into the Institute to rescue Dory, getting help from two seals, Fluke (Idris Elba) and Rudder (Dominic West).

As I have already mentioned above, I believe that this film is even better than the original that preceded it in almost every sense.

Director Andrew Stanton (who directed Finding Nemo as well), along with co-director Angus MacLane, has created a film that not only has several nods to the original, but also many new elements to enjoy.

The array of new characters are fantastic, but the characters who have returned are great as well. The entire original cast have returned to reprise their roles, with the exception of Nemo of course (however, Alexander Gould, who voiced Nemo in the original, does have a cameo in this film).

The screenplay, written by Stanton with Victoria Strouse, is brilliant at every turn, with plenty for audiences young and old to enjoy.

Thomas Newman’s music is delightfully unassuming, lurking in the background with the utmost subtlety. In fact, in most scenes, it is barely noticeable at all. And yet when it is apparent (rare, but it does happen), it is so perfectly suited to the on-screen action and emotion.

Pixar’s films just seem to keep getting better and better every year. While there is a lot to love in their older films, they are a studio that are improving constantly with each release. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

10 out of 10.