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Director: Tim Hill Screenplay: Jerry Juhl and Joseph Mazzarino and Ken Kaufman Starring: Jeffrey Tambor, Andie MacDowell, David Arquette, Rob Schneider, Josh Charles, F. Murray Abraham, Pat Hingle, Hulk Hogan, Kathy Griffin, Ray Liotta, and the voices of Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Bill Barreta, Jerry Nelson, and Brian Henson Running Time: 82 minutes Studio: Columbia MPAA Rating: PG |
What you've always suspected is true. Gonzo the Great really is a little blue... uh, whatever... from outer space. His alien brethren and sistren are trying to contact him with the message "R U there" carved into the Great Pyramids, rearranged in Stonehenge, and through the letters of his breakfast cereal. The messages catch the attention of a super-secret government agency and its head, alien-hunting nutcase K. Edgar Singer (Jeffrey Tambor).
With the focus trained on Gonzo -- and on Miss Piggy, hosting a UFO program on TV -- the rest of the Muppet menagerie is pretty much reduced to walk-ons. Save perhaps Rizzo Ratso, Gonzo's roommate and self-appointed "translator," as if he needs one. Joining the menagerie is Pepe, a giant prawn with a South American accent. And besides Tambor, the human faces include Pat Hingle as a blustery general, F. Murray Abraham as Noah (in a dream sequence that begins the movie, Noah refuses Gonzo entry to the ark because he's the only one of his kind), Andie MacDowell as Miss Piggy's rival, David Arquette as a mad scientist who experiments on Rizzo and his new-found band of rat buddies, Hulk Hogan as one of Singer's henchmen, Ray Liotta as a gate guard who falls under Piggy's spell, Kathy Griffin as another guard who falls under Animal's spell, and Rob Schneider as a slimy TV producer.
Muppet movies, besides the recurring characters and terrific comic bits, rely on sly pop culture references, broadening the appeal to young and old alike. Strangely, this element is missing in Muppets From Space, save for a scene with two Dawson's Creek kids (and a creepy scene it is, too) and a fun recreation of a key moment from Independence Day. And for some unexplained, flipped-out reason (blame Boogie Nights and 54, I guess), the soundtrack is filled with disco tunes like "She's a Brick House," "Shining Star," and "Celebration."
Add to this the fact that the movie's advertising campaign gives away the ending, and you've got several solid reasons for skipping this Muppet outing.
