I forgot to mention that the same day I saw Revenge of the Sith I also saw a new Muppet movie, the Muppet Wizard of Oz.

Which... I love star wars, but I'd have to say I actually love the muppets more, as they've never really let me down like Lucas has. That said, this was actually not one of the better Muppet movies (it was straight to video, which gives you a hint). They messed with the plot some so that it took place in modern times instead of the depression, took out all the songs and replaced them with only a couple kind of halfhearted ones, made it so dorothy didn't want to get home so much as "become a famous singing star," etc. I didn't really find this an improvement, but I can see why they did it. No one wants to see a straight adaptation of the Wizard of Oz only with muppets. Changing the plots around is exactly how some of their past movies like A Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island stayed fresh.

But the whole point was this syrupy moral bit that they didn't even stick with completely. The whole point was you should be happy to be you, and not try to be famous or phony. But in the end she becomes a superstar anyway, so it kind of undermines itself.

And Ashanti was a really bland Dorothy. Not that that kid from Muppet Treasure Island was especially entertaining, or anything. I guess sometimes the muppets need a straight man/woman, though, or else you've got an entire cast of schizophrenics as it were. And plus, the only female of the main muppets is Piggy, and she's really not a Dorothy type by a long shot.

Weirdly enough though--I liked it despite all this. Muppet humor is just so random and off the wall, that you can appreciate and love it even when the plot sucks. I absolutely love that Pepe the king prawn was Toto. I guessed that the munchkins would be the rats and that Fozzie would be the cowardly lion and I loved it when they actually were, and Gonzo as the Tin "thing" was very awesome. The best, absolute best part is when Pepe goes up and presses these metal things on Gonzo's chest and is like, "What do these do?" and Gonzo's like, "Nothing! They're my nipples!" That and other randomosities are what made it worth watching despite the crappy framework.

They've done a couple of these half-hearted made for TV/straight to video movies lately, which, while I enjoy, I can't help but hope they'll go all out and make another studio release in the not too distant future.