I had heard about this movie for a long time, and finally saw it. It sounded great, a weird muppet movie with AIDS, sex, and violence, that plus it was directed by Jackson. BUt in the end I just felt it didn't add up. It sounded a lot more interesting and exciting than it actually was. It was actually kind of boring. Anyone with me?
shareIt seems it does not appeal to a lot of people which surprises me. The film is morbid, putrescent, and in poor taste, however, this is part of the charm. I personally enjoyed it because of it's bad taste, which is delivered in a cheeky knowing way as opposed to being deliberately shocking. Maybe only New Zealanders like myself enjoy the humour??
shareI myself had very high hopes for this film. When I looked up the reviews, everyone just kept emphasizing how vulgar, disturbing, crass and messed-up it was. The idea of all this with hand-puppets seemed droll to me, but I didn't want to pay $17 (which was what Amazon was charging for the damn thing) just to check it out. So, the version of it that I watched was from uTorrent.
Unfortunately, I was rather disappointed too. Based on everything I read about the film, I was expecting it to be on the level of South Park or something, but the puppets never really did anything that outrageous with the exception of maybe two or three scenes. I don't even remember any of the characters use the F word.
The first hour of it was just depressing and I didn't really even laugh until the final half-hour. "The Sodomy Song" was definitely the funniest part of the movie. It was very avant-garde cinema to say the least. I wish I could have found it more enjoyable.
"Our first assignment is a documentary, they're like real movies but with ugly people"
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I just watched it and it's definitely...something. I thought it had funny moments. I snickered and giggled a bit but nothing that caused uproarious laughter. It's definitely disgusting, although I thought it would have been a lot worse according to what I had heard previously about it being so vulgar. I thought it was okay but I doubt I'll be watching it again anytime soon. Once is enough. What I really don't understand is all the comparisons to The Muppets. People saying, "It's Muppets on crack" or "after watching [Meet the Feebles], I can't look at Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie or Miss Piggy the same way ever again"... I don't get it. The Feebles and The Muppets are two separate entities. I can see how it could be seen as the Feebles taking the piss out of the Muppets, but beyond that, the only thing they have in common is that they're puppets. I'll admit upfront, I'm not a big fan of directors that use gore and vulgarity just for the purpose of being "edgy" or "adult", and while I do understand that it's more realistic in some ways than the Muppets, at some points I felt that certain elements really weren't needed beyond adding more shock value to the film. Honestly I think Avenue Q, and the short-lived PuppetUp: Unstuffed and Unstrung pull off "Muppets for adults" better than Feebles.
*EDIT*: Having gone back to watch more episodes of The Muppet Show, I can see more where Meet The Feebles draws inspiration from the Muppets. I've since come to the conclusion that Meet The Feebles, while having entertaining songs, is really not laugh out loud funny as I was originally led to believe and does feel mean-spirited. I doubt Peter Jackson had a personal vendetta out for the Muppets when making this film, and perhaps this was all meant to be poking fun at the Muppets, but Peej just seems to cater to the lowest of the lowest common denominator and the movie shows vitriol to something like the Muppets. Honestly, the Muppets are a class act compared to this garbage.
If it's been fifteen years or more, it's no longer a spoiler.
Yeah, throw me among the other posters who felt disappointed by this. I'm a fan of Peter Jackson and I appreciate his early work (I enjoyed Bad Taste!). I also like vulgar un-PC humor, but this film just didn't do it for me.
The concept of puppets in an over-the-top movie with sex, violence and drug humor is funny and I liked the puppet designs, but the film goes on for too long with too many characters and subplots to the point that it becomes boring. It has funny moments, but of the Peter Jackson films I've seen, this would probably be my least favorite.
Didn't add up to what?
It was actually kind of boring. Anyone with me?