The Happytime Murders

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Elizabeth Banks, Maya Rudolph, Leslie David Baker, Joel McHale, Bill Barretta (voice), Dorien Davies (voice), Ben Falcone
Directed by: Brian Henson
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Comedy
2018

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A puppet Private Investigator (Bill Barretta) reluctantly teams with his former partner (Melissa McCarthy) when members of an old television show start getting murdered.

Review:

Tim: I suppose there might have been a kernel of a good idea at the heart of The Happytime Murders. Why not do an R-rated puppet movie that takes characters you'd find on Sesame Street or among the Muppets and tell a story about murder, sex, and drugs? The juxtaposition of very adult themes with childhood toys could have been a great idea. Unfortunately, it never fully clicks in Brian Henson's film. This movie got ravaged by critics and in fairness, I have to say that it's not nearly that bad. It's simply lackluster in every sense. There's nothing inspired or especially funny about the film. It tells a generic crime story that felt uninspired and follows the path that so many of these stories follow. It's ultimately too predictable. The puppet aspect doesn't really make all that much of a difference. They are treated like any other characters, so you're left with a story that feels less unique than you would expect. I was surprised how unfunny the movie proved to be. I might have laughed a few times, but it really didn't do much.

One of the biggest flaws is that the film failed to create puppet characters that were memorable. Phil Philips (I had to look his name up) isn't an especially cool or entertaining character. He feels like any generic former cop turned PI. Sure, he's a puppet, but that doesn't make him interesting. The same can be said for every single other puppet character, maybe with the exception of Sandra, who feels slightly unique because you don't often see puppets wear their sensuality so openly. On the other side, though, she's like every other femme fatale in movies like this. Outside of these two, every other puppet character feels underdeveloped and instantly forgettable. I was quite frankly shocked that more effort wasn't put into making these characters have more personality.

The human characters are slightly better off, since we know the actors bringing them to life. Melissa McCarthy was fine in her role. It's firmly in her wheelhouse and she was decent with her performance. It felt safe, but it's the kind of role she needs to be successful. Elizabeth Banks' presence was welcomed, but she has so little to do that she isn't able to make much of an impact. Maya Rudolph actually gave a good performance and created more laughs than I would have expected. I'm often critical of her, so I want to be fair in praising her performance. I loved seeing Leslie David Baker here and he was well cast for his role. I'm a big Joel McHale fan, but I wish he would stop getting cast in these pointless, unlikable supporting roles. It's not the best use of his talent.

I have to say, I simply didn't care about any of the characters or anything that happened in this film. We're introduced to this world that is inhabited by both humans and puppets, but it's never an immersive experience. It's not like what was accomplished in Who Framed Roger Rabbit or even Cool World. It's taken for granted, but it doesn't pull us into this alternative reality. I have to fault Henson for that- this movie really needed a stronger director to set up a world that we could believe in and want to explore. That doesn't happen here.

The Happytime Murders feels like a complete miss. A movie like this could have worked and could have been hilarious. Instead, we get a boilerplate detective story that happens to have puppets. The humor is juvenile and unfunny, which certainly contributed to this being a massive box office bomb. I probably didn't hate this film as much as most critics, but there's so little to appreciate here. This is a bad movie and it's probably a good thing it's also a financial failure.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Cool World, Team America: World Police