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THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS (2018)

The Happytime Murders poster

CAST
BILL BARRETTA (VOICE OF)
MELISSA McCARTHY
LESLIE DAVID BAKER
ELIZABETH BANKS
KEVIN CLASH (VOICE OF)
DORIEN DAVIES (VOICE OF)
JOEL McHALE
MAYA RUDOLPH
VICTOR YERRID (VOICE OF)

STORY BY
TODD BERGER
DEE AUSTIN ROBERTSON

SCREENPLAY BY
TODD BERGER

PRODUCED BY
BEN FALCONE
JEFFREY HAYES
BRIAN HENSON
MELISSA McCARTHY

DIRECTED BY
BRIAN HENSON

GENRE
COMEDY
CRIME

RATED
AUS:MA
UK:15
USA:R

RUNNING TIME
91 MIN

 

The Happytime Murders image

Like watching a one-note joke die a horrible, painful death, The Happytime Murders inspires little with its novelty inspired, smut-humour stylings, save for wondering aloud how the hell the Jim Henson Company could stoop so low.

It takes about 5 minutes for the novelty of this “Muppets Gone Wild” experiment to wear off. In these post Team America times, there needs to be more than the sight of once child things cursing, drinking and screwing, to truly move any meter of any kind. The Happytime Murders, the latest production from Henson Alternative, clearly didn’t get the memo. Lazy in its writing and lame in its attention seeking theatrics, this Brian Henson directed waste of 90 minutes is worse than a travesty. It’s a flat-out bore, with barely a joke or scenario warranting a reaction, safe for the occasional sigh or eye-roll.

Presented in the form of a gum-shoe film-noir, The Happytime Murders focuses its story on Phil Phillips (Bill Barretta), a puppet private detective who reunites with his ex-partner police detective Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy) to find a serial killer targeting the cast of 1980s TV series “The Happytime Gang”.  Throughout its 91 minutes this Todd Berger (It’s a Disaster) scripted nonsense coasts on a polluted river of f-bombs and puppet-porn scenarios. One scene in which Phillips ejaculates for what seems an eternity (clearly ripping off the much grosser and way funnier vomit scene from Team America) is symbolic of how quickly The Happytime Murders blows its wad in spectacular fashion. To say its goes downhill from there only speaks to how low-brow and unimaginative this film is.

The addition of Melissa McCarthy does little to help, with the Bridesmaids star in high-octane shtick mode, yelling and swearing and hitting and swearing and crazy and…well, you get the point. In a career populated with more misses than hits, The Happytime Murders may just prove to be the worst strike-out in McCarthy’s swing for the fences repertoire.

It’s clear that with this bald yet miscalculated move, Henson wants to join alongside the ranks of Trey Parker/Matt Stone and Seth McFarlane in creating edgy adult fair using children playthings. While no doubt there is considerable skill found in the art of puppetry, there is also an obvious lack of creativity, imagination and comedic smarts from those pulling the strings behind the scenes. In the end The Happytime Murders proves that even though a turd can still be sprinkled with glitter and feathers, it’s still a turd. Welcome to the stinker of 2018.

 

*

 

 

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