“Muppets Most Wanted”
By John Mulderig
Catholic News Service
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Viewers of almost any age will find themselves well re-
warded for tracking down
“Muppets Most Wanted”
(Disney).
Some brushes with peril integral to its farfetched story might frighten the very
smallest audience members. But this sprightly musical outing for the beloved puppet
ensemble created by Jim Henson makes winning, family-friendly entertainment for
all others.
It’s Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn meets
“Hogan’s Heroes”
as an unlikely plot twist
sends the Muppets’ gentle leader, Kermit the Frog (voice of Steve Whitmire), to a
Siberian gulag. His imprisonment comes courtesy of Russian gangster -- and dead-
ringer Kermie look-alike -- Constantine (voice of Matt Vogel), “the world’s most
dangerous frog.”
As part of his plans for a daring jewel heist, Constantine, freshly escaped from
the gulag himself, is out to take Kermit’s place on a forthcoming Muppet world tour.
Aiding Constantine’s scheme is his smooth talking human confederate Dominic Bad-
guy (Ricky Gervais).
Dominic -- who explains away his telltale last name by asserting that it’s French
and therefore pronounced “Bad-gee” -- has managed to insinuate himself into the
role of the Muppet’s manager.
While Kermit languishes in the arctic under the supervision of his over-the-top
principal jailer Nadya (a hilarious Tina Fey), all his old chums except Animal (voice
of Eric Jacobson) are taken in by the impostor. Part of Constantine’s success rests
on his promise to give the Muppets whatever they want, beginning with Miss Piggy
(also voiced by Jacobson) whom the faux Kermit finally -- and all-too-readily --
agrees to marry.
Director and co-writer (with Nicholas Stoller) James Bobin’s follow-up to his
2011 re-launch
“The Muppets”
combines singing, dancing, innocent humor and en-
tertaining cameos. The resulting treat is then topped off with an endearing message
about loyalty to friends. Bobin and Stoller’s script also cautions against greed and
egotism, sending positive signals for youngsters amid the lively fun.
Tina Fey and Kermit the Frog star in a scene from the movie “Muppets Most
Wanted.” The Catholic News Service classification is A-I -- general patronage.
The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance
suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
CNS photo/Disney
“Muppets Most Wanted”
is preceded by a
“Monsters University”
-inspired short
called
“Party Central.”
While this is also generally diverting, at least some parents
may find a character’s fleeting reference to “making out” an incongruous bit of dia-
logue in an animated movie obviously aimed at small fry.
The film contains some slapstick violence. The
Catholic News Service
classifica-
tion is A-I -- general patronage. The
Motion Picture Association of America
rating is
PG -- parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
Mulderig is on the staff of Catholic News Service.
For more movie, DVD and Blu-ray reviews,
see
.
Y
ear
-R
ound
F
riday
A
bstinence
From page 22
The 1983 Code of Canon Law confirmed that au-
thority, stating that “the penitential days and times in
the universal church are every Friday of the whole
year and the season of Lent,” but that any conference
of bishops can “substitute other forms of penance” in
place of abstinence. It defined abstinence as applying to
all Catholics 14 and older on all Fridays unless a solem-
nity falls on that day.
In 1985, the Australian bishops declared that Friday
penance could be fulfilled by prayer, self-denial or help-
ing others. However, some of the bishops believe per-
mitting Catholics to determine their own penance has
failed.
“Allowing people to work out some penance was
idealistic and unrealistic,” Bishop Elliott said.
Since the change, Bishop Elliott said, most Catho-
lics are unaware of or have forgotten the obligation en-
tirely. Having the church decide what penance should
be done would make it easier to remember and would
promote stronger Catholic identity, he said.
“In the wide and inclusive church, proclaimed by
Pope Francis, we need to offer ways for the casual
Catholics to make simple acts of belonging, and not eat-
ing meat on Friday was just that,” he explained.
Bishop Lismore echoed his colleague, saying that
he found only a small number of Catholics fulfill the
Friday penance during the year.
“It has been difficult for priests to preach it when it
remains only a principle with no uniform discipline at-
tached to it,” he said.
Bishop Jarrett described Friday abstinence as “an
ancient and universal practice for Catholics deeply in-
grained in our identity with Christ and the church.”
Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart said by re-
moving Friday abstinence, the church “lost a distin-
guishing sign of our identity as Catholics.”
“In the past it was one of those practices that ev-
eryone knew: Catholics don’t eat meat on Fridays,” he
said.
Writing to members of his diocese prior to Lent in
2013, Bishop Kennedy expressed concern that the prac-
tice of weekly penance was lost.
“Sadly, it seems the practice of deliberate and con-
scious acts of Friday penance has virtually disappeared.
It is time for a renewal in this important religious prac-
tice,” he wrote.
Reconsidering the practice of abstinence would
require “some serious catechesis” to ensure Catholics
understood and embraced it, according to Archbishop
Porteous.
“It has been mooted here among some bishops
though no action has been taken in any diocese to my
knowledge and it has not been formally discussed by
the bishops’ conference,” he said.
Almost three years since the 2011 decision, at least
one English bishop is certain that restoring the practice
of abstaining from meat every Friday would be benefi-
cial to the Catholics Church in Australia.
“In offering it to us all as a way of calling to mind
that on Friday Catholics all over the world are united in
penance, any diocese would be giving to its faithful a
timely, apt and practical spiritual gift,” Bishop Terence
Drainey of Middlesbrough, England, told The Record,
newspaper of the Archdiocese of Perth.
The English and Welsh bishops emphasized that re-
storing the practice would give the faithful “a clear and
distinctive mark of their own Catholic identity.”
“All we have to do as Catholics is use these opportu-
nities for our own good and growth in the spiritual life,”
Bishop Drainey said.
Gulf Pine Catholic
•
March 28, 2014
23
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