Muppet madness: Henson's handiwork back with panache

The popularity of the Muppets is given new life in The Muppets, a funny, wickedly self-aware musical that opens by acknowledging they've outlived their shelf life. There's some truth in that; this is the first Muppet movie since "Muppets From Space" (1999), and there wasn't exactly a clamor for a revival. Yet for those who grew up with them, they had lovable personalities and (shall we say?) character defects.

What's rather canny about this revival is that it sidesteps the fact that some younger members of the family may not actually be very familiar with the Muppets. Their parents will be the fans. The movie opens with the Muppets disbanded; their movies and TV shows are all in the past. They've moved on. Miss Piggy, we discover, became the editor of a Paris fashion magazine.

It's a human fan that misses them most. Jason Segel plays Gary, who not only loves the Muppets but actually lives with Walter, who has been his best pal since he was a child, even though now Gary's at least five feet taller. Full review.