No one ever accused Disney of leaving money on the table. 
 
 Just in the last week, we've had announcements of sequels to "Cars" and "The Incredibles" and casting news on "Star Wars" films. Press releases on new superhero adventures are practically a constant. 
 
 So it's no surprise that, after "The Muppets" turned out to be a successful revival back in 2011, the little green frog and his heartfelt friends would all come back for more too. After all, there's still money to be made. 
 
 What is surprising is that it's not just a cash grab. 
 
 The new movie, "Muppets Most Wanted," isn't as hip as the last one, which opened with a sarcastically sunny number and kept its ironic tongue in cheek throughout. Neither does it have Jason Segel, who had co-written and starred, and often put himself centerstage. 
 
 And that's OK with me. 
 
 Instead, the new film feels a little more like a look back to earlier installments like "The Great Muppet Caper," which were less self-referential than just plain silly, with a variety of old-time guest stars (mostly in unexpected cameos) fearlessly joining in the childlike fun. 
 
 The movie, which relies more on music than most Muppet films, starts with a big production number about sequels (which, it cheerfully admits, are "never as good"), then moves to a confidently corny plot about an international master criminal, who just happens to be a dead ringer for Kermit. 
 
 And in a flash there's a frognapping — and poor Kermie is off to prison (actually, the gulag) while the devilish Constantine is leading the Muppets on a European concert tour (which conveniently hits a string of cities with some begging-to-be-robbed museums). 
 
 Admittedly, most of the songs — which range from quiet-storm soul to some Celine-Dion-ish ballads — go on too long. And the movie itself is too loud, with one explosion after another. (Although a particular projectionist who clearly had the dials turned up to 11 didn't help.) 
 
 But as the human villains, Ricky Gervais is surprisingly bearable and Tina Fey — as a prettier Rosa Klebb — is very funny. And although some of the big celebrity cameos fall flat (Chloe Moretz? So?) a lot of them, particularly once we get to the Russian prison, are delightful. 
 
 Of course it's the most fun for Muppets fans. But if you don't love the chipper Kermit, the self-involved Miss Piggy, the sweetly foggy Fozzie — not to mention the hard-to-explain Beaker, Animal and the Great Gonzo — well, please, sit over there. I don't think I quite trust you. 
 
 But if you do — well, then you'll probably be glad to see them back. And agree with Disney that — as long as they keep the quality up, and the guest stars coming back - it is easy being green. Or at least raking it in. 
 
 Ratings note: The film contains some violence. 
 
 'Muppets Most Wanted' (PG) Disney (112 min.) 
 
 Directed by James Bobin. With The Muppets, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais. Now playing in New Jersey. 
 
 
 
 ★ ★★ 
 
 ||||| Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog and the rest of their stuffed gang of entertainers take their talents to Europe for the cameo-filled sequel “Muppets Most Wanted.” (Jay Maidment/AP) 
 
 When “The Muppets” came out in 2011, it was the first Muppet movie to hit theaters in more than a decade; the collective exhale was palpable — and profitable — as millions of relieved fans flocked to see their beloved yarn-and-wire characters mix it up with Jason Segel and Amy Adams in what amounted to Muppets 2.0. The film was such an unexpected smash that it earned Jim Henson’s creations their very first Oscar (well, not counting the Grouch) for the brilliant song “Man or Muppet.” 
 
 “Muppets Most Wanted” can’t rebottle that particular brand of lightning, but it does a terrific job trying, and once again “Man or Muppet” songwriter Bret McKenzie — one half of the comic musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords — saves the day with a passel of catchy and amusing ditties that keep the movie humming along even when the plot threatens to sag. 
 
 Written and directed by “Muppets” filmmaker James Bobin, with an assist from co-screenwriter Nicholas Stoller, the story picks up where “The Muppets” ended, with the troupe back together and contemplating their professional future. Enter would-be road manager Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais), who pronounces his last name “BAHD-jee” and lavishes the Muppets with promises of sold-out continental venues and stardom while a suspicious Kermit reluctantly goes along. 
 
 It turns out that the European tour that Badguy has arranged dovetails diabolically with a plan he’s hatched with an evil green Russian frog named Constantine, who could be Kermit’s double save for a menacing brown mole on his lip. Mistaken identities and high jinks — on stage and off — ensue. The Muppets take Berlin; Badguy and Constantine smash-and-grab their way from Madrid to Dublin to London; and Kermit languishes in a Siberian prison camp, befriending convicts played by Ray Liotta and Danny Trejo and winning the heart of a soulful guard named Nadya (Tina Fey). 
 
 If those marquee names get your attention, just wait: “Muppets Most Wanted” is stuffed to its felted gills with notable supporting and cameo performances, including a very funny turn by “Modern Family’s” Ty Burrell as a Clouseauvian Interpol agent. The one discordant note comes by way of the gulag gags: With Russian President Vladi­mir Putin enthusiastically reviving that country’s most oppressive totalitarian past, making light of what now seems all too real may strike adult viewers as, if not tasteless, then at least unfortunately timed. (The backfire also serves as a cautionary reminder to studio executives eager to exploit the newly all-powerful international market.) 
 
 Even with those misgivings, no one old enough to remember “A Chorus Line” will be immune to a set piece revolving around a prison theater revue; like most of “Muppets Most Wanted,” the wittiest jokes and cameo appearances are designed to soar far over the heads of young filmgoers and into the atavistic pop consciousness of their adult companions. As for the youngsters, it’s up to individual parents to decide whether the sight of Kermit being wheeled into jail trussed up like Hannibal Lecter is a tad too dark for Junior’s delicate sensibilities, or whether their littlest charges will truly appreciate an opening production number that invokes Busby Berkeley and Ingmar Bergman in addition to the Muppets’ own cherished oeuvre. 
 
 The title of that song, by the way, is “We’re Doing a Sequel,” a clever Hollywood sendup that firmly establishes the film’s governing tone of sly, self-referential irony. Gervais and Fey turn out to be the ideal human foils for that enterprise, playing along with game professionalism and never letting the audience see them wink (at least not too obviously). Kermit, Miss Piggy and the rest of the gang may pick up life lessons about the dangers of getting everything you want, the value of loyalty and the importance of listening to your gut, but their grown-up chaperones will simply be grooving on the songs, inside jokes and zestfully calibrated mayhem. In perhaps the toughest test of all, “Muppets Most Wanted” figures out how to end on a genuinely hilarious note — or, in this case, lack of one. Well played, Muppets 2.0. Well played. 
 
 ★ ★ ★ 
 
 PG. At area theaters. Contains some mild action. 112 minutes.
– The Muppets are back following their spectacular 2011 revival. This time, they're headed to Europe (with comedic big-hitters Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, and Ty Burrell alongside), where all doesn't quite go as planned. Does Muppets Most Wanted live up to the reboot? The critics weigh in: "Refreshingly wholesome and cleverly campy, it's a family film that should appeal to a wide age range, though not every joke hits its mark," writes Claudia Puig at USA Today. "The musical numbers' lyrics are a hoot, and the parade of cameos (from Celine Dion to Usher) is a bonus." Burrell, meanwhile, stands out with "a charmingly outlandish style" that hints of Mr. Bean. What could be the funniest gag in the movie is a "sly skewering of our European allies, whose work habits, vacation-taking, and such are mocked relentlessly," notes Neil Genzlinger at the New York Times. Little kids may "be left behind" and "Vladimir V. Putin is unlikely to be amused," but grown-ups may well be. Still, "the whole film seems to have a vague heaviness to it," he notes—and no charm. Stephen Whitty at the Star-Ledger admits the film "isn't as hip as the last one," and smacks more of "earlier installments like The Great Muppet Caper, which were less self-referential than just plain silly." He finds a few faults (the song length, the loudness of it all), but concludes that if you're a fan of the Muppets, "you'll probably be glad to see them back." Ann Hornaday writes that the movie doesn't top 2011's version, but it "does a terrific job trying," she writes for the Washington Post. Songwriter Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Conchords fame) "saves the day with a passel of catchy and amusing ditties that keep the movie humming along even when the plot threatens to sag." Plus, Burrell is "very funny."