The Happytime Murders is a one-joke movie and I didn’t like the joke. Not that I was offended by it, I just didn’t think it was well-told. The flick opened this weekend up against A-X-L… the robot dog movie. Talk about Hollywood firing on all cylinders… too of the worst flicks of the year, back to back.
Happytime Murders is an R-rated muppet (ahem – puppet) film noire detective movie, directed by Brian Henson(!). Set in a world where puppets and humans live together, it tells the story of a series of puppet actors from an old tv show getting whacked and the hard-boiled puppet detective – and his ex-partner played by the human Melissa McCarthey – who has to solve the case.
Do you find muppets dropping f bombs, taking drugs, and squirting silly string during sex funny? Well, if you absolutely do not, then avoid this film. If you think that COULD be funny, then maybe you’ll like it. But that’s largely the only joke – cute fuzzy muppets doing what real life humans might do in a modern hard R detective mystery. Unfortunately, none of the jokes worked… it was amazingly flat, tedious, and repetitive. Of course, humor is very subjective so maybe you’ll roll with it and think it’s hilarious. I did not and not because I’m a prude, but because I need more than “Hah! the muppet did a naughty thing”.
So really, that’s all I can say. This was a thud of a movie. It didn’t work at all. The only good thing was the puppetry they showed during the end credits. Honestly, seeing how they animated the puppets was the most interesting thing about the flick. In other words, the best part of the movie was when it ended. Sigh.
Score: 57