Imagine this – A puppet movie that is crass to the point of shocking. No, not Team America World Police. Let me try that again. A throwback to old detective movies except you pair a human and a fantasy creature and place them in a world where both societies exist together. Oh, you thought of Roger Rabbit? I guess I can’t blame you. Though, I would blame you if you thought of Theodore Rex.
The Happytime Murders shows a world where puppets are no longer seen as entertainment. They live and work amongst humans. Though, there is clear bigotry in the world.
When the puppet cast of an ’80s children’s TV show begin to get murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet takes on the case. He is placed with his former partner, Detective Edwards (Melissa McCarthy). Together, they attempt to solve the murders and their own issues, while the killer seems to be one step ahead of them.
Conceptually, this makes for a fun world where self-reference and the over-the-top antics of puppets could have been somewhat original. Instead, we get a movie where puppets drop the F bomb, snort sugar cocaine and have far too much puppet sex. That makes for comedy….right?
What in the world was Brian Henson (the director and son of Jim) thinking? I’m sure he thought that expanding the Muppet brand by inventing this kind of world would draw crowds that can’t get enough of the crass comedy of Deadpool. However, nothing works. Instead of writing actual jokes, they just hope that a strung out puppet soliciting unsavory acts will be hilarious.
Crass comedy, when done right, has the power to elicit guilty laughs that you can’t take back. While the playback of these jokes may lose their edge the second time around, it’s hard to forget about the initial involuntary guffaws. Happytime Murders wants you to laugh so bad that it might as well have an “Applause” or “Uproarious Laughter” sign blinking in the corner of the screen.
Outside of the puppets, the human costars are the ilk that you’d find slumming in any easy paycheck flick. Elizabeth Banks, Joel McHale and Maya Rudolph all ham it up, but literally add zero humor in an already vapid movie. Melissa McCarthy has hit rock bottom with Happytime Murders. She sleepwalks as her typical caricature that worked seven years ago. Happytime Murders is the worst movie she’s been involved in.
It seems that nothing could save Happytime Murders. However, maybe a little more effort into writing jokes that land and understanding the potential of the concept could have done something to salvage it. The Happytime Murders fails on every level and while it’s short, it feels like a 90-minute cinematic root canal. F
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