Pushing the envelope is nothing new. It’s almost become an ironic thing for a film to do, since its not really all that groundbreaking to push it anymore. It isn’t groundbreaking to try to be groundbreaking. Therefore, when an idea comes along that seems genius, it requires a certain finesse to get it to a place of quality. “The Happytime Murders” does not have that finesse.
It doesn’t really have much of anything in fact. However, it does have some impressive technical aspects. In a world where puppets and humans coexist, some of the advanced puppeteering methods used by Henson Alternative are downright genius. Greenscreen, multi person rigs, special sets, and even hydraulic pumps help bring this extremely technical world to life. It’s clear the crew and director Brian Henson (“Muppet Treasure Island”, “A Muppet Christmas Carol”) are proud of this new tech, as shown via an end credits montage of behind-the-scenes footage.
This advanced technical prowess also helps bring the film’s action scenes to life in a wondrous fashion. While not all of them are great, some are just downright lazy, most employ the same level of expertise that the rest of the film does. They’re by far the coolest sequences in the film, especially when they use the puppets directly in the fights.
It helps bring believability to the scenes, adding a layer to the film as a whole. Also helping a great deal is the wonderful performance from Bill Barretta (“Muppets from Space,” “The Muppets (2011)”), the voice and puppeteer behind Phil Phillips, the movie’s main character. He does a good job, by far the best in the entire film.
Melissa McCarthy (“Bridesmaids,” “Spy”) and Maya Rudolph (“Bridesmaids,” “Sisters”) are just fine. Neither are particularly bad but neither do anything to make their performances memorable. The rest of the supporting cast; Joel McHale (“Community,” “The Informant!”), Leslie David Baker (“The Office,” “Puppy Dog Pals”), and Elizabeth Banks (“Wet Hot American Summer,” “Pitch Perfect”), just appear, say some lines and disappear. They add virtually nothing to the film.
As bland as most of the acting is, it’s the writing that truly kills most of the film. Half the time the puppet characters are spouting lines about prejudices and how humans view puppets as singing and dancing slaves. Meanwhile there are subplots about Phil’s disgraced cop career, his relationship with a human and his soured partnership with McCarthy’s Detective Connie.
None are pulled off well at all and a few simply disappear when they cease to be relevant to the story. The puppet minority allegory is mentioned a few times in the first thirty minutes, but then is dropped. Worse still, it’s never integrated into the story in any way. There are brief mentions of Phil resisting the urge to sing and entertain, instead wanting to have a real job. But this idea is never expanded upon like it seems like it should.
This isn’t just a case of potential being wasted though. Audiences are clearly meant to pay attention to these moments thanks to editing and filmmaking techniques that makes them think they are. It almost feels like they’ve been cheated when these moments amount to almost nothing.
Worse still is the fact that there is some legitimate gold in here. A few of the bits of satire are funny, and some of the grislier scenes of murder and violence could be more entertaining in a better film. But “Happytime” feels like a film that could be so much more, if it wasn’t forced to be an R-rated crude comedy.
Oddly enough, the best parts of the film are in the third act, when a lot of the more obvious and overtly crude humor takes a back seat. If all that had been taken out and Henson had just delivered a PG-13 puppet buddy cop film, then it definitely would’ve improved the film. As it stands, the film’s crude nature serves merely as a distraction from the rest of its elements.
A distraction is warranted though, as the film’s writing is so bad it’s painful. Not the dialogue per se, but more that the film’s internal logic is screwy. So many moments happen apropos of nothing, just popping up because they have to. But because none of it makes any sense, it becomes painful to sit through, making even the mediocre elements feel even worse.
Some technical expertise and a good puppeteering performance can’t save a film down trodden with poor writing, humor and a severe lack of internal logic. There’s a germ of a good idea here, and if someone was to try this again, with either a PG-13 or a far cruder R-rating, maybe “Happytime Murders” could work. As it stands, it’s just a film that can’t commit to any one plot point, subtext, or comedic tone. It avoids being unwatchable or completely awful. It’s just all fluff and no substance. 1.5/5
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