I’m a sucker for the Muppets, and I like them best when they’re doing their own thing, when they’re being their witty, wacky selves. For the most part, Muppets from Space delivers — like the scene at the beginning showing a typical morning in the muppet flop house. The noisy chaos is wonderful.
Plotwise, The Great Gonzo is haunted by dreams that he is all alone, that there are no others like him on the entire planet. One day he gets a message from outer space (from a pair of cosmic fish) that he is not alone, and that his brothers are coming to visit. Meanwhile, Miss Piggy tries to rise from Coffee Pig to Television Anchor with her new employer. A daring rescue from a secret government installation caps it all off.
Toward the end, the movie drifts off on sentimental tangents, leaving the comedy behind. The muppets have done schmaltzy emotion that has brought tears to my eyes. Unfortunately, it only works about half the time, and it didn’t work in Muppets from Space. The uneven ending was enough of a disappointment to kill the energy from the first half. So even though parts of it were quite enjoyable, on the whole, it’s not a must-see. Even if you’re a sucker for the Muppets.