Trailing Off: "The Happytime Murders" (2018)

Scene from The Happytime Murders 
Welcome to the sporadic column Trailing Off in which I take a look at a trailer from the past week and analyze its potential. This will be done using an obnoxious amount of analyzing and personal thoughts on the cast and crew as well as expectations. I will attempt to highlight films ranging from new blockbusters to lesser known indies and give them their due. Partially to spread awareness, I do believe that there is an art to the sell and will do my best to highlight why these trailers matter or don't with approval (trove) or disapproval (trash). So please stop by, recommend some trailers, and I will see you next time.


Trailer in Discussion


Directed By: Brian Henson
Written By: Todd Berger (Screenplay), Todd Berger & Dee Austin Robertson (Story)
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Elizabeth Banks, Joel McHale


- Preamble -

It's tough to really make an argument for The Muppets in 2018. On one hand they have a cultural currency that goes back 30 years. They're charming and full of creative wonder, drawing in any celebrity with free time for cute cameos. However, I would make an argument that the recent buyout by Disney hasn't really produced much in the way of amazing work on par with the early work. The 2011 film The Muppets was in particular a bit bland and forgettable, relying more on people who were nostalgic for the felt characters' heyday and not wanting to tell a great story. Likewise, a subsequent TV series attempted to turn their show into The Office with a bit of an edge, but it still couldn't last more than a season. So really, what can you do with The Muppets nowadays?
It's part of the allure of The Happytime Murders, which is a film that looks to be taking the characters in a different direction. It isn't even new people doing it. It's the people that took over for Jim Henson following his death, specifically the director Brian Henson (yes, Jim's son). I may be part of a specific crowd, but I have a soft spot for Brian Henson's run in the 90's, such as The Muppet Christmas Carol. It suggests that he has an idea of how to adapt the characters to different pop culture staples. His work at making the characters work within a Charles Dickens landscape more than suggests that he would be the right person to adapt any story to The Muppets and still have some heart at the core.
Which raises an interesting question. How do you make an R-Rated version of The Muppets? To some extent, that's already been done with Wonder Showzen, but this time it comes directly from the source. The Happytime Murders is a long gestating project that has been meant to paint the characters and seedy and dirty, making a film that is sure to be warped. So the question should be asked as to whether Henson is going to maintain the positive legacy of The Muppets, or if this is going to be shock for shock's sake. To be totally honest, I'm a bit hesitant in part because The Muppets haven't done great work in quite some time. Likewise, I don't think that Melissa McCarthy is the best addition to the cast. We'll have to watch the trailers and see. 


- Dissection -

I don't exactly know how to address the trailer, which definitely earned its red band status. It ends with a particularly fowl gag that shows just what kind of movie is. It's a sexual joke, and one that goes on for so long because it sure is funny to see puppets having sex. This comes at the tail end of several gags involving hookers mistaking McCarthy for a guy and wanting certain favors from her. There's also a lot of violent gags that are funny because beheading Muppets actually just looks like felt. In a way, the film succeeds at being an R-Rated reimagining of what we all know. The only issue is that I'm not entirely sure what the point is beyond shock gags.
Sure, it works because puppets can make anything funny. However, I don't know if the satire works in large part because it only works because of that. None of the vulgarity really feels like it would work in any other context. It's mostly funny because it has puppets kicking people in the groin and cursing. Isn't that funny? Again, I am conflicted about whether or not this is a positive, because this film has always prided itself on being a vulgar satire of film noir. It wouldn't work if the jokes weren't edgy. There's not too much necessarily that goes beyond what a dark detective story would be. It's Sin City meets The Muppet Movie, and that's both good and bad.
As for how I feel about this movie, I don't exactly know. On the surface, I like The Muppets and think there's a lot to love. To a large extent they've already done a great noir satire in Dog City. However, I guess you have to go big in your dirtiness if you want to stand out. It will definitely have a profound legacy in the canon, whether positive or negative is yet to be seen. Still, I feel weird because this is Brian Henson, the man who made Muppet movies that I personally connected with as a child. I should trust him, but I also feel like maybe he's lost it, creating a film like Seth Rogen's Sausage Party: one that exists solely to see something unexpected do something unexpected and hope that it's funny enough. I think there's promise in this still, but it's just not for me. At least not in this particular context.


- One Sentence Sell -

The people behind The Muppets are back, and this time they curse and fornicate like humans!


- Trove or Trash -
TRASH

I probably had some desire to see this film because of what it was trying to be. But seeing the trailer really makes me wonder why they made it in the first place. There's an odd chance that the marketing could win me over, but this isn't the type of Muppet movie that I want to go out of my way to see. 

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