Review Roundup: MUPPETS MOST WANTED Sings, Dances into Theaters Friday

The world's favorite felt-covered entertainers are back in Disney's MUPPETS MOST WANTED. The big-screen sequel, which opens today, takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theaters in some of Europe's most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid, Dublin and London.

But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine, the World's Number One Criminal, and a dead ringer for Kermit the Frog and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two.

In addition to all of your Muppet favorites, the film stars Ricky Gervais as Dominic Badguy, Ty Burrell as Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon and Tina Fey as Nadya, a feisty prison guard.

Disney's MUPPETS MOST WANTED is directed by James Bobin and produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. Bobin wrote the screenplay with Nicholas Stoller, who is also executive producer with John G. Scotti. Featuring music from Academy Award-winning songwriter Bret McKenzie.

Let's see what the critics had to say:

Joe Neumaier | New York Daily News

"This one continues the Muppet tradition of making the real co-stars up their funny to keep up with Jim Henson's creations. The film's slightly overplotted feel is offset by the zippiest musical numbers since the Muppets' deservedly beloved 1979 film." Read full review here.

Michael Phillips | Chicago Tribune

"The movie throws a misjudged majority of the material to the villains and lets the unfashionably sincere and sweet-natured Muppets fend for themselves. No doubt Gervais, Fey and company adore their co-stars, as does the creative team behind MUPPETS MOST WANTED. But something's missing from this sequel, and it isn't jokes about how sequels usually disappoint." Read the full review here.

Peter Hartlaub | San Francisco Chronicle

"The new film is less story-driven and darker than THE MUPPETS, but it's no less entertaining - especially for those who remember and cherish some of Jim Henson's more madcap and twisted turns." Read the full review here.

Kyle Smith | New York Post

"These days, the Muppet self-awareness and vaudeville DNA has recombined with FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS spoofery for an often delightful result." Read the full review here.

Jake Coyle | Associated Press

"MUPPETS MOST WANTED, thankfully, soon enough dispatches the previous film's mopey nostalgia and sets things on a more madcap course: a European caper, not unlike 1981's (alas superior) THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER." Read the full review here.

Todd McCarthy | Hollywood Reporter

"The liveliest thing about Muppets Most Wanted is the score. The songs are not uniformly great, but they possess energy, some clever lyrics and an old-school, eager-to-please pizzazz that alleviate the mild tediousness of the arguments over criminal pecking order between Constantine and Dominic and the mildewed refrains of mutual love, respect and support among the perennially insecure Muppets." Read the full review here.

Justin Chang | Variety

"Sporting a title that can't help but smack of wishful thinking, MUPPETS MOST WANTED casts Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and company in a hokey transcontinental caper that conspicuously lacks the winning blend of irreverence and sincerity that made 2011′s THE MUPPETS such a delight." Read the full review here.

Have you seen the MUPPETS MOST WANTED? Then add your review to the roundup in the comments below.

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