Benjamin Black I hate this movie. It sucks. Let's go.Dorothy works at her diner in Kansas and dreams of being a star. She gives the Muppets her demo CD after missing the opportunity of auditioning for them, but still worries about leaving Kansas. She wants to become a sensation and sing. However, she and her neighborhood find themselves in danger when a tornado hits, and it blows her, her pet shrimp, and her trailer home away. They find themselves in the magical land of Oz where they find rats in hats, magical wizards, a scarecrow, a T.I.N. thing, and a lion.Let's start with the good things. First of all, Queen Latifah's here. To be fair, that's not saying much because she really doesn't bring much. But have you ever had that actor/actress that's so awesome, their presence makes the production a bit more awesome? That's Queen Latifah. Secondly, the scene with Kermit and Quentin Tarantino...Yeah, that scene is hilarious! Third, there's a joke Statler and Waldorf make about Fozzie in this film. It's not at all the funniest thing they've said, but this movie is so bad that it stands out as a highlight! Also, OK, David Alan Grier can be entertaining half the time he's here, but I'm mostly rooting when I see the closing credits. So I guess there's four and a half good things about this movie.So what sucks about this movie? EVERYTHING ELSE! I'll try to be brief: Let's start with the 2 bozos who ruin this movie: Ashanti & Pepe! First of all, Ashanti: WHO GAVE HER PERMISSION TO ACT?!? I guess it works in a film like "Coach Carter" because she played an urban teenager, and she has an urban style already. Here in a what's supposed to be family movie (it's not at all a family movie), it doesn't work! Half the time she's on screen, I just hear her saying "I'm trying to act, please excuse me." My younger brother and I laugh and overdub her lines by making references to her poor acting in this film (try it, it's hilarious). Secondly, Pepe. You've read in my last review of "Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie" that I hate Pepe. For as annoying as he was in that movie, I can tolerate him so much more in that film than in this film! This is the film that really makes me hate him! He's not charming, he's not cute, he's not lovable, he's not anything you'd love in another Muppet! When he's not making inappropriate adult jokes, he's making awkward moments by delivering what the writers and producers wanted to be a funny line, but is actually just stupid and annoying! AND WHY IS HE TOTO?!? You really had to put him in the movie, so you gave Dorothy a pet shrimp instead of a dog?!? (I know he's a king prawn; I'm choosing to disrespect him by calling him a shrimp!)The choice to make Dorothy a superficial, star gazed teenager is stupid! It takes away from the original story; why change her motivation? The original Dorothy was a lot more innocent, likable, and relatable. The choice to make Toto a shrimp...whatever, I talked about that already. The ending is stupid! Aunt Em says to her (and I'm paraphrasing), "After our house blew away, I realized that it doesn't matter where you sing because you're always home in our hearts."...So, after your niece flies away in a tornado, an instance in which most people would die, you say it's alright if she sings because she's in your heart? YOU JUST LOST YOUR CHILD AND YOUR HOME; WHY IS HER SINGING CAREER ON YOUR MIND?!?!And, just like Pepe and his connection to the last Muppet production, there are even more uncomfortable adult jokes here. They reference a pornographic company, Pepe plays with Gonzo's nipples, and Gonzo gets aroused by a poorly animated chicken. Not only is this film full of bad acting by Ashanti, annoying lines from Pepe, pointless adaptations of the original "Wizard of Oz" story, and painful adult jokes, but a lot of these scenes are distasteful! The scene where Kermit and Gonzo are literally destroyed is scary!! And they try to make up for it by forcing a "likable" scene right after that - and it doesn't work!! That seems to be the pattern of this movie: distasteful scene/moment, followed by a forced tasteful scene/moment that really isn't all that tasteful!This is my second least favorite movie EVER (my first being "The Cat in the Hat" - THAT'S RIGHT! This is up there with Mike Myers as The Cat in the Hat!)! The music is annoying, the animation and graphics are terrible, and it's not charming or entertaining or likable! It's a slap in the face to the original "Wizard of Oz" story, and it's a slap in the face to Jim Henson's Muppets. This was the first production the Muppets released after they were bought by the Walt Disney Company; the fact that they're owned by Disney still burns my hind, but the knowing that they produced this is just punishment and sickening! This movie sucks, and if you have any sense whatsoever, you'd avoid it at all costs! BOOYIKA!

johnstonjames 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.

frankfob I don't think anyone expected this Muppet remake of the classic Judy Garland movie to be better than the original, or even as good as the original. But I don't think anyone expected it to be this far below it, either.I like the Muppets, and I'm not a kid. I saw "The Great Muppet Caper" not too long ago, and I actually enjoyed it, and I watched the old Muppet TV show regularly. So I figured that a remake of the "Wizard of Oz", Muppet-style, would be enjoyable. Brother, was I wrong.There are a host of problems with this film. To begin with, there's Ashanti. Her, to put it gently, "inexperience" as an actress shows in every frame. The best you can say for her is that she's bland. She has virtually no chemistry with the other performers--even Jeffrey Tambor in his relatively small on screen time clicks with them far better than she does--she doesn't dance very well (or, thankfully, very often) and while she sings OK, the songs are about as colorless as her performance, although one of them somehow wound up with an Emmy nomination. The script is weak, many of the jokes are lame, the CGI effects are mediocre--as another poster has mentioned, they should gone with Muppets instead of the cheesy CGI characters--and what in God's name is Quentin Tarantino doing in it? David Alan Grier is amusing and makes the most of what little time he has, and Queen Latifah seems a bit more at ease than she usually is, but overall this is the weakest of all the Muppet movies I've seen.

darth_borehd This movie is an attempt by the clueless executives at Disney and the music recording studios to conscript Jim Henson's creations into a vehicle to promote their latest banal singer. It's obvious from the first scene as she breaks into her insipid solo number this is going to have a lot more about showcasing her so-called talents than anything fun with Muppets. My son informed me that she calls herself "Ashanti"--the latest mediocre offering from the record industry factories. Somebody had the asinine idea that she could act. Did they not notice that she has less acting ability than the average 3rd grader? If they did, I'm sure the phrase "It's for kids, so it won't matter" was used. Quentin Tarantino had an incomprehensible scene with Kermit the Frog that wasn't funny and may be frightening for some children. Some scenes from the L. Frank Baum novel cut from the Judy Garland movie were attempted. For example, each of the characters sees the wizard as something different (but with bad CGI). This might have been interesting if handled by a competent director but they were ruined here by idiotic poor implementation. The worst idea in this whole production is even having "Ashanti" in the same ZIP code as the movie, much less a starring role. In conclusion, if you love the Muppets, the works of L. Frank Baum, the Judy Garland Wizard of Oz or even Michael Jackson's The Wiz, AVOID THIS MOVIE. If you have any respect for Jim Henson and don't want to lose respect for Brian Henson, AVOID THIS MOVIE. If you like Quentin Tarantino, go get one of his other movies and AVOID THIS MOVIE. If you are looking for light family entertainment and have any sense of good taste, AVOID THIS MOVIE.