The Muppets: Back in Action

The Muppets: Back in Action is a 2017 American 3D computer-animated comedy film directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, co-directed by Karey Kirkpatrick, from a screenplay written by both of them. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Lord Miller Productions, The Muppets Studio, Mad Chance Productions and animated by Reel FX Animation Studios, it is a reboot of the theatrical film featuring the Muppets and the ninth theatrical film. It stars the voices of Muppets stars Vin Diesel, Elizabeth Banks, Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Zac Efron, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Rami Malek, James Corden, Michael Peña, Nick Kroll, Matt Vogel, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta and David Rudman. The film also features the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Demi Lovato, Samuel L. Jackson, Daniel Craig, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dennis Haysbert, Jon Lovitz, Ving Rhames, Tina Fey, Gal Gadot, and Snoop Dogg. Its plot, which parodies action, origin story, and spy film conventions, follows Kermit the Frog (Diesel) as they become intertwined in a plot by Siegfried (Cumberbatch), the head of terrorist organization KAOS, to transform the world's population into subservient monkeys using the Blue Monkey diamond. He accompany DJ Drake (Sudeikis), the aspiring stuntman and stalwart superstar Dwayne Johnson fan; and Linda Howard (Lovato), the Disney executive; on their journey to thwart the Siegfried's plot, which doubles as a mission to rescue the former's abducted father, Damian (Craig), while Kermit is reunited with his long-lost father, a street frog named Vic (Jackson).
Plans for a new Muppets theatrical film began in April 2014, when Disney announced that they would reboot the Muppets film series with an animated film. Tartakovsky confirmed to joined after he received inspiration of Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) and Get Smart (2008). Kirkpatrick was brought on board to co-directed and write the film, with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller attached as producers, while the rest of the voice cast was announced. The official title was revealed in September 2016.
The Muppets: Back in Action had its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on March 25, 2017, and went into general theatrical release in Disney Digital 3-D, RealD 3D, and 4DX formats in the United States on March 31, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film was received generally positive reviews from the critics who praised its story, humor, music, animation, voice performances, and entertainment value, but criticized the polarizing casting choices and the plot. It grossed $1.039 billion worldwide, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2017 and the fourth-highest-grossing animated film of all time during its theatrical run. The film received three nominations, including Best Animated Feature at 75th Golden Globe Awards and 45th Annie Awards.
== Plot ==
Kermit the Frog lives a simple life in a Florida swamp. After he plays his banjo and sings "Rainbow Connection", he is approached by Bernie, a talent agent who encourages Kermit to pursue a career in show business before being chased away by a nearby alligator. Inspired by the idea of "making millions of people happy", Kermit reach the Hollywood studio, he finally meet studio executive Aloysius Shawn, who signs Kermit to a "standard 'rich and famous' contract" as playing heroics roles.
Weary of playing villainous roles in the Roger Rabbit's cartoons, Gonzo the Great demands his own animated film, but is instead fired by Vice President of Comedy Linda Howard, and give to Kermit. Security guard and aspiring stuntman DJ Drake is need a break to take care of his home, while the security guards escort Gonzo from the studio. Gonzo follows DJ home, where the latter receives a message from his father, actor Damian Drake, who DJ learns is a secret agent. Damian tells DJ to travel to Las Vegas, contact his associate Dusty Tails, and find the blue monkey diamond. Damian is then captured by the terrorist organization KAOS, led by the boss Siegfried. DJ and Gonzo depart for Las Vegas, along with Gonzo's friend Camilla the Chicken.
Kermit' routines fail without Gonzo. Linda is told to rehire someone, or face termination herself. Linda and Kermit arrive at DJ's house, where they’re kidnapped by KAOS's henchmen named Dalip and Shtarker, who take them to an abandoned mall as hostages. Kermit and Linda are soon rescued by Kermit's estranged father, Vic, whom Kermit resents for abandoning him in an alley when he was a baby frog. Vic agree to joined with Kermit and Linda to pursuit DJ and Gonzo, where they find Damian's TVR Tuscan and use it for going to Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, DJ and Gonzo meets Dusty, Fozzie the Bear is working as a hapless stand-up comedian, Rowlf the Dog, Pepe the King Prawn, Scooter, Animal, and Sam Eagle in a casino. Dusty gives them a unique playing card, a clue to finding the diamond. Joker and his sidekicks pursue DJ, Gonzo and other Muppets for the card, but they flee with Kermit, Vic and Linda. The Tuscan crashes in a desert, where Wile E. Coyote tries in vain to steal the card from the group. Freighthopping a train, Vic attempts to bond with Gonzo, to no avail. KAOS's pigeon employee Toady learns about Blue Monkey and informs Siegfried.
The group eventually discovers Area 52, run by a woman known as Mother. Mother shows the group a short film about the blue monkey, which can devolve humans into monkeys. Marvin the Martian, imprisoned in the facility, leads a group of aliens to try to steal the card, but the group escapes, along with Dr. Bunsen Honeydrew, Beaker, Sweetmus, Rizzo the Rat, and Crazy Harry. Seeing Mona Lisa's face on the card, the group conclude they must view the painting in the Louvre.
The group travels to Paris to meets Miss Piggy, who is an editor for Vogue Paris, and she and Kermit immediately become love-stricken with each other. The three reach the Louvre, which is heavily guarded by an advanced security system. They meet Otto, a bull, who was forced out after a corporation took over the zoo, separating him from his cow girlfriend, Ethel. They agree to help get Ethel out of the zoo if he helps them break in. While preparing for the heist, Kermit and Vic have trouble working together, they’re arriving at KAOS' chief bomb-maker Ladislas Krstic's mansion during a party, the group infiltrate his office and trace his father to a KAOS headquarters. They are caught by Krstic and his men, but manage to eliminate them before escaping.
The group successfully infiltrate the Louvre, and discover that the card contains a viewing window for the Mona Lisa and use it to discover a hidden map of Africa. Penguin, Two-Face and Riddleman appears and chases Gonzo and Fozzie through several paintings to obtain the card. Meanwhile, Linda is kidnapped by Harley Queen and Smith, Siegfried's bodyguard. DJ rescues Kate, while the trios villains disintegrates into tiny dots after emerging from a pointillist painting and rescue finally Ethel, to reuniting with Otto, where they meet Vic's old crew. 
The group travels to Africa and meet Granny, Sylvester, and Tweety, who escort them to the ruins of a jungle temple containing the blue monkey. During travelling, Vic solemnly reveals that on the night he abandoned him, he was actually getting food for Kermit across the alley but took too long returning to him. When he finally did, he saw him playing the banjo and sing “Rainbow Connection”. Somberly realizing Kermit would be a better provider than he ever could, Vic decided to let Kermit to be a singer, and kept his distance from him, causing him to consider forgiving his dad. At that point, Granny and company reveal themselves to be Siegfried, Smith, Dalip, Shtarker and Bela in disguise. Siegfried teleports everyone to the KAOS headquarters and tricks DJ into giving him the diamond in exchange for Damian's release. 
Marvin is sent to place the diamond in an Acme satellite's ray gun; with it, Mr. Chairman plans to turn most of the world's population into monkeys to make his products before reverting the population into people who will buy them. DJ, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Vic and Linda rescue Damian from a death trap with the help of Dalip, Shtarker, Otto, and Ethel, Dalip realizing that Siegfried insults Dalip’s wife to Shtarker's delight, while Gonzo and Fozzie chase Marvin into space. Marvin defeats Fozzie, prompting Gonzo to become Super Gonzo in order to destroy the diamond. The intervention leads to Siegfried transforming into a monkey, leading to his arrest. Fozzie and Gonzo return to Earth, where it is revealed that the preceding events were staged. 
Returning to Hollywood, Kermit promises Gonzo that they will be equal partners, and finally reconciles with Vic, who moves in with the trio, officially becoming part of his son's life, while DJ proposes to Linda, who gets tongue-tied at the question before accepting; a rainbow shines through the sky and they’re met by adoring fans outside on Hollywood Boulevard. Joined by Muppet characters from other Henson productions, including Sesame Street, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, and The Land of Gorch.
In the post-credits, a new "actor" is teased and harassed by Larabee and Jimmy until they discover that he's Dwayne Johnson, an actor star, who is DJ's fan and friend.
== Voice Cast ==
* Jason Sudeikis as Damian "D. J." Drake, Jr. / himself
* Demi Lovato as Linda Howard
* Benedict Cumberbatch as Siegfried
* Daniel Craig as Damian Drake
* Gal Gadot as Dusty Tails
* Tina Fey as Mother
* Ving Rhames as Otto
* Dennis Haysbert as Dalip
* Jon Lovitz as Shtarker
* Rob Riggle as Bela
* Snoop Dogg as Snoop Catt
* Alan Arkin as The Chief
=== Muppets cast ===
* Vin Diesel as Kermit the Frog
* Samuel L. Jackson as Vic
* Elizabeth Banks as Miss Piggy
* Bill Hader as Fozzie the Bear
* Fred Armisen as Gonzo the Great
* Zac Efron as Scooter
* Keegan-Michael Key as Rowlf the Dog
* Steve Buscemi as Pepe the King Prawn
* Rami Malek as Dr. Bunsen Honeydrew
* James Corden as Rizzo the Rat
* Michael Peña as Sam Eagle
* Nick Kroll as Sweetums
* Matt Vogel as Crazy Harry and Camilla the Chicken
* Eric Jacobson as Animal
* Dave Goelz as Zoot
* Bill Barretta as Swedish Chef and Mahna Mahna
* David Rudman as Beaker
=== Cameo performances (live-action) ===
* Dwayne Johnson as himself (animated only)
* Jim Carrey
* Nicolas Cage
* Brendan Fraser
* Will Smith
* Angelina Jolie
* Anne Hathaway
* Bruce Willis
* Steve Carell
* Kathryn Hahn
* Priyanka Chopra Jonas
* Brad Pitt
* Jason Bateman
== Production ==
=== Development ===
In March 2014, Disney announced that they would reboot the Muppets film series for 3D film with an animated film, with Genndy Tartakovsky, who direct Sony Pictures Animation's Wreck-It Ralph, was confirmed as director, even though he was originally too busy due to his developing an adaptation of Popeye, which would later get shelved, as well as John Cohen from Illumination Entertainment and Catherine Winder from Lucasfilm, who later served as the film's producers, with Andrew Lazar and Michael Steinbach co-producing the film. Karey Kirkpatrick joined in as co-director and writer. On May 22, 2015, Disney announced that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller joined the project as producers, while Peter Segal serve as an executive producer alongside Jason Sudeikis, Vin Diesel, Tartakovsky, and Kirkpatrick. The film is the duo's second collaboration with Disney following The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2017). According to Tartakovsky, he joined after he received inspiration of Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) and Get Smart (2008). By early July 2016, the film had been entitled The Muppets: Back in Action, as it similar of the title of Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
=== Casting ===
In December 2015, Matt Vogel, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta and David Rudman were revealed to reprises their roles as Beaker, Animal, Zoot, Swedish Chef, Mahna Mahna Crazy Harry, and Camilla the Chicken. In January 2016, Vin Diesel was revealed to play as Kermit the Frog, while Bill Hader, Elizabeth Banks and Fred Armisen had signed on to voice Fozzie the Bear, Miss Piggy, and Gonzo the Great. In March 2016, it was announced that Zac Efron, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Rami Malek, James Corden, Michael Peña and Nick Kroll were cast as Scooter, Rowlf the Dog, Pepe the King Prawn, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Rizzo the Rat, Sam Eagle, and Sweetums. In May 2016, Jason Sudeikis was cast as the lead human voice role, with Demi Lovato, Daniel Craig, Benedict Cumberbatch, Gal Gadot, and Tina Fey joined in the cast. In June 2016, Samuel L. Jackson joined the film as Kermit's father, Vic. Over the next few months, several guest cameo announcements emerged, including Jim Carrey, Nicolas Cage, Brendan Fraser, Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, Anne Hathaway, Steve Carell, Kathryn Hahn, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Dwayne Johnson, Brad Pitt, and Jason Bateman. With the release of the second trailer, Snoop Dogg was revealed to star in the film.
=== Animation ===
Animation services were provided by Reel FX Animation Studios, who took inspiration from the original cartoons' world and animation, and films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Mary Poppins, for the movie's blend of classic animation and live-action. To maintain the character designs, art style, movements, and expressions, the 3D animators created classic 2D tools for their weight, rendering, shading, outlines, line of action, smear frames, inbetweening, onion skinning, motion blur, and squash and stretch, without losing their cartoony charm and spirit. The team also used the classic shorts and many reference images from the production office, to help further. He reimagined the film to follow the energy, organic nature, and exaggeration of 2D animation, particularly in Wreck-It Ralph and Hotel Transylvania, as seen in the work of director Tex Avery. "I took all the aesthetics I like from 2-D and applied them here," Tartakovsky said. "I don't want to do animation to mimic reality. I want to push reality." "I wanted to have an imprint so you'd go, 'Well, only Genndy can make this.' It's hard, especially with CG, but I feel there's a lot of moments that feel that they're very me, so hopefully it'll feel different enough that it has a signature to it." Additional animation were provided by Animal Logic in Sydney and Vancouver, Agora Studios, and Boulder Media in Irish.
=== Music ===
The score for the film was composed by Heitor Pereira. Pereira employed instruments he considered underused, as well as ones rarely used in an orchestral setting, such as the banjo and including Kermit singing his signature song, "Rainbow Connection", which he played on the same banjo that he used when he performed the song in The Muppet Movie (1979).
== Release ==
=== Theatrical ===
The Muppets: Back in Action premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on March 25. The film was theatrically released in the United States on March 31, 2017.