The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005)

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

this may not be the best of the OZ movies, but it has got to be the most adorable of all the them. even with Quentin Tarantino on board to give the movie a little edge. but i have a kinda weird sense of cute and actually find Tarantino to be sorta cuddly. Tarantino definitely displays a lot of childlike enthusiasm for everything he does.not only is this Muppet puppet film cute as a puppy baby, it also happens to be one of the funniest of all their movies in my opinion. some of the humour is even kind of questionable and racy for the Muppets. there is a reference made about the 'Girls Gone Wild' videos and controversial humour about 'The Passion of the Christ' film. there is even a very inappropriate moment when Tarantino is describing the next scene and stating, "we should have Ashanti kick Miss piggy right in the face", the film's next scene then actually shows the violent act take place. omg. Tarantino even makes a comment about Miss Piggy's witch "witch slapping" Ashanti. i still can barely handle the image of the pig dressed up in a biker leather teddy. sooo weird. but in the long run there is nothing to get too excited or offended about. it's all in good fun.Ashanti is certainly the sexiest and most attractive of all the Dorothys. for one thing most of the other Dorothys are too young and all the Dorothys have a kind of forlorn waifish look to them that is mostly the character's trademark. Ashanti not only is the prettiest, she is also the most upbeat of all the Dorothy portrayals. Queen Latifah is also on hand to provide a outstanding characterization as aunt Em.a lot of the film's critics, i believe, have unfairly attacked this film as being a disappointing Muppet film and not worthy of comparison to the others. i strongly disagree. this may not be as good as the first film, but it is one of my very favorite of all the numerous Muppet films. i love movies about OZ and everything here from the FX to the production design were top notch, and the songs were enjoyable and uber cute. i would have given this cutie pie flick a rating of nine, but because of the lightness of approach and content, that's probably taking all this a little too seriously.it's amusing to note that when the Disney people last presented OZ, it was a excellent film but a little dark and definitely on the downbeat side. this is a decidedly much happier excursion and provides more fun and laughs then the spooky 'Return to OZ'. the more upbeat approach is definitely more due to the Henson involvement than Disney.for me OZ is forever. the Muppets are forever. the combination of Muppet Puppets and OZ, for me, is irresistible. definitely a film i highly recommend to babies and their parents everywhere. a few non-child affiliated adults might find this amusing as well.

Let me make three things perfectly clear:1) I adore the Muppets (does it show with my user name?) 2) I'm not a prude, so sex jokes and even some toilet humor don't offend me. 3) I don't mind re-imaginings, even modern takes, on classic stories like the Wizard of Oz.That said, this movie is AWFUL. Just AWFUL. Ashanti cannot act at all, the other celebrity cameos are wasted, the songs are horrible, the lines are corny (to be fair, corny lines are a pretty standard Muppet thing, but at least they're usually humorous), Pepe/Toto, contrary to everyone gassing on about him, is horrendously unfunny and annoying (don't you miss the old days when there was more to being funny than just spewing random sex jokes and pop culture references?), I could go on and on.Bottom line, horrible movie, not worth it, rent the Great Muppet Caper.

Some people have complained that this film from ABC/Walt Disney isn't as pure as it should be but let's not forget that there's very little that's pure in this world.ABC was the channel that tried to break nudity and language rules with NYPD BLUE.Walt Disney formed TOUCHSTONE to release movies with nudity,swearing and violence. They even signed controversial artists on their music labels with lyrics MICKEY MOUSE would never sing.They also released FIRST KID(a film where a kid shows his naked butt)and COOL RUNNINGS where language was not always family friendly.Think that THE LION KING is pure? Well,in a scene where this animal is trying to save the pig's butt and says SAVE YOUR...AAHHHH!!! This is clearly a phrase that is a reference to save your a$$.it was meant to be that way and it's no accident.And what about Dreamworks?In the THE ROAD TO EL DORADO when the guy says HOLY SHIP! This is clearly a reference to.. well,i'll let you guess....And what about the first two SHREK movies? They do refer to body parts below the belt...and they aren't nipples!And of course,we could also talk about those marvel comics or DC comics.When they transform into movies there usually appears a lot of bad words which were never permitted in the days of the authority code.Now that they have taken the code out of the comics,they seem to take pleasure in including bloody violence featuring even popular character such as BATMAN.These aren't your parents'parents' comics anymore!!!I didn't watch THE MUPPETS'WIZARD OF OZ with any children so much of the sexual innuendos clearly passed over my head (the nipple thing didn't even offend me but it did disturbed me in some of those 90's BATMAN films!LOL) and i only find that perhaps the cleavage on a female CGI was a little bit strong for family viewing.When i watch cleavage,i don't want any kids in the room!LOLI thought that the sets of THE WIZARD OF OZ and the CGI characters were interesting.I thought that the stealing of the witches' eye thing was invented just to make a connection to KILL BILL and seemed somewhat a violent theme for a fairy tale but some reviewers seem to say that part of that was already in the original story of THE WIZARD OF OZ.mmmmm...how strange!!About 70% of the jokes fall flat and there's just three jokes in the whole picture that are ALMOST funny.I want to point out that i was a big fan of THE MUPPET SHOW but that this movie is pretty hard to watch because it's so badly made.After 60 minutes,you have the impression that they just didn't know what to do and that they were just killing time to make it last a certain amount of time.I would also question the inclusions of the director of KILL BILL in a scene where he explains how violent the scene would be if he filmed it and references to other R rated films.The DVD contains three special features. 1-Outakes & bloopers: those are usually the best thing on dvds but not in this case because none are funny.2-Pepe's exclusive making of: First of all,it's fairly short and that's good. Unlike some,i don't blame the failure of this film on ASHANTI. When she's talking to Pepe,some of her charm clearly shines through.3-Extended interview with Quentin Tarantino: Here Quentin is interviewed by Pepe. It's not as offensive as his part in the film because he doesn't describe violence in the same way and you don't have to show it to your children if you don't like what the guy stands for.I thought that it was interesting apart from the ending where he tells that the muppets films never influenced him in anyway.It seems like a joke that simply doesn't work.The filmmakers might have tried to make a more mature muppets film to attract the adults but the result will probably appeal more to young kids and will mostly bore their parents!!!The DVD gets a 2 for the film and a 2 for two of the special features.

Some people commenting on here didn't like that, especially the gentleman from Texas. Honestly, i liked it. Its telling the familiar tale of The Wizard of Oz with a modern feel and a crowd of puppets. I will say its not in the same league as Muppets Christmas Carol which was out of this world, but it does hold up. There are less human characters in it and more muppets. Miss Piggy as the wicked witches - who else could do the parts???? (I'm at the point where piggy is the WW of the West and dressed as a biker in leather.) Kermit is Scarecrow, Gonzo the tin thing (20 years watching the muppets, im still wondering what gonzo is?), Fozzie as the cowardly lion and Pepe the Prawn as, Toto. Ashanti is so gorgeous as Dorothy. I saw her at the start and during the film and thought "WOW"This is a good one for the kids or to watch if you like the muppets. With all films that are using a basic theme, forget the others, judge this by itself and not against any others. you'll love it.