David Pierdomenico
In an age when films like Sausage Party subvert tropes and hijack genres typically reserved for family films, The Happytime Murders fits perfectly into this new trend. At its core, the film is a satirical detective film noir set in a world where humans and puppets coexist, but anti-puppet prejudice runs rampant. In some ways, it’s rather similar to the plot of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? But given the overall raunchiness and infinite less nuance, the comparisons end there.
Hard Boiled Detective Story
The film opens with a puppet named Phil Phillips explaining the world in which he lives. Puppets walk alongside humans, but are not given the same respect or rights. He works a private investigator, as he’s a disgraced former police detective. Soon he stumbles upon a series of murders, specifically targeting puppets who were cast members on a Sesame Street like TV series. He’s forced to work with Detective Edwards (Melissa McCarthy), his former partner whom he still has bad blood with and hilarity ensues…somewhat.
The primary gimmick of the film is that it’s puppets saying and doing incredibly inappropriate things. But after an hour and a half, it starts to get stale. Plus, the film tries to take itself seriously as a mystery at times, almost forgetting that it’s a comedy. That said, McCarthy steals every scene she’s in, as she usually does. Ironically, it’s Phillips, the puppet, who seems dull at times. It definitely has its funny moments, but it’s not the joke a minute laugh fest that the trailers would suggest.
The Prodigal Son
Perhaps what’s most fascinating about the film is that it’s directed by Brian Henson, son of the legendary Muppets creator Jim Henson. Having him direct gives the film a sort of authenticity. As if to suggest that if anyone can get away with telling a story like this with felt puppets, it has to be a Henson. The main character is also voiced by Bill Barretta, famous for voicing Pepe the King Prawn and Swedish Chef in The Muppets.
And to be fair, the puppets and interactions with them look brilliant. It’s quite clear that the crew behind this film really knew how to perfectly craft and blend the puppet with humans. Jim Henson would be proud, if he weren’t rolling over in his grave (hopefully from laughter) Given all the “family” TV series Brian Henson has worked on for the last 20 years, it’s understandable why he might want a break to do something aimed more at adults.
Far From the First
As previously mentioned, Sausage Party took the idea of taking an animated film, usually meant for children, and filling with foul language and sexual references. However, there have also been previous attempts to make puppets more “mature”. Back in 2004, Matt Stone and Trey Parker (of South Park fame) gave us Team America: World Police. It took marionette style puppets and used them to satirically recreate a patriotic, Michael Bay inspired action film.
The main difference between Happytime Murders and Team America is that the former takes itself seriously at times, trying to get the audience to care and sympathize with the characters and their arcs. The latter never strayed from its ridiculous skewering of the genre, to the point that almost every line, despite sounding sincere, was parody, much like the films of Adam McKay (Anchorman, Step Brothers, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and The Other Guys).
While not the outright funniest or smartest comedy of the year, The Happytime Murders will entertain, so long as audiences know what to expect from it. Perhaps if it had committed to satire 100%, it would have been better. Instead it wants us to laugh at the absurdity, while also buying into the seriousness of the situation. It’s not reinventing the wheel in any way, but it’s decent for 90 minutes of mindless entertainment.
