Hollywood has never lacked ideas, but of late they have become increasingly unoriginal or unsuccessful. Such an impression could be gleaned from a trend that appears to be a sort of reprise of what happened some thirty years ago, when police films set in Los Angeles gained a certain 'spice' through the use of fantastical characters, be it cartoon protagonists in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, or extraterrestrial beings in Alien Nation. In 2017, Goyer’s Bright employed a similar formula, in which Will Smith, as a Los Angeles police officer, is partnered with an orc and must uphold law and order in a city where orcs, elves, and other Tolkien-esque fantasy creatures coexist with humans. A year later, meanwhile, the crime comedy The Happytime Murders, directed by Brian Henson, son of the legendary Jim Henson—creator of what is arguably the most popular puppet TV series, The Muppet Show—has arrived in cinemas, showing the City of Angels inhabited by puppets alongside humans.
The film opens with a narration stating that the city embodies all noble ideals of interracial, interfaith, and every other form of tolerance—but only where humans are concerned. Puppets, on the other hand, are universally despised and treated as second-class citizens, a fact most keenly felt by the protagonist, puppet Phil Phillips (voiced by Bill Barretta), who was kicked off the police force due to a mistake and forced to earn a living as a private detective. His new client, puppet Sandra White (voiced by Dorien Davis), hires him to track down a blackmailer, leading Phil to a pornographic den in a troubled part of the city. There, during his investigation, his acquaintance, rabbit puppet Mr. Bumblypants (voiced by Kevin Clash), who was once a star of the popular puppet TV series The Happytime Gang, is murdered. The police believe it was a robbery, but Phil suspects his acquaintance was the actual target—a suspicion confirmed when Phil’s brother, former puppet actor Larry (voiced by Victor Yerrid), also a series star, becomes the next victim. Phil resolves to find the killer but is forced to work with human detective Connie Edwards (played by Melissa McCarthy), his former partner who dislikes him. However, they must overcome their differences to uncover and stop the murderer before Jenny (played by Elizabeth Banks), the human star of the series whom Phil once loved, becomes the next victim.
Happytime Murders shares similarities with Bright in that critics have torn it to shreds with a unanimity not seen since Soviet party congresses in Stalin’s era. Such consensus should generally be viewed with scepticism, and it is reasonable to assume that Happytime Murders has drawn ire not due to poor quality but because of its content, which superficially appears as a parody of 'political correctness' and everything perennial SJW do-gooders hold sacred. Henson, however, has not meddled much with political engagement or 'deeper' themes, instead employing a relatively simple plot to deliver a typical Hollywood comedy built on a high-concept idea. This concept posits that puppets from popular family-oriented TV series, akin to those from the elder Henson’s works, lead just as dysfunctional lives off-camera as humans—indulging in drugs, crime, and the most depraved forms of sex. Henson correctly calculated that such content—including explicit sex and violence—would more easily pass through the censor’s scissors if the participants were puppets rather than humans. The result closely resembles Meet the Feebles, Peter Jackson’s relatively obscure 1989 cult film, offering audiences not only a blend of explicit content and black humour but also occasionally testing the boundaries of good taste.
Critics are thus somewhat justified, and it is highly likely that, like Jackson’s earlier film, this one will soon be forgotten. The reason lies in the inconsistent quality of humour, with some gags and lines repeated unnecessarily, and certain scenes—like the 'romantic' encounter in Phil’s office—feeling entirely superfluous, included solely to stretch the film to a minimum runtime of an hour and a half. On the other hand, Happytime Murders is sufficiently short enough that these flaws do not overly grate, and the script—despite its lack of originality and reliance on clichés—keeps the film afloat with a coherent plot, engaging characters, and even a few well-crafted, competently directed scenes. What makes Happytime Murders watchable is primarily its excellent casting, particularly the consistently reliable Melissa McCarthy, who excels in the ungrateful role of the grumpy partner in this police buddy cop film, as well as her longtime collaborator Maya Rudolph in the equally thankless role of Phil’s human secretary. Happytime Murders is a film better than its critics suggest, though audience enjoyment will largely depend on whether viewers arrive at the cinema in a good or bad mood.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
(Note: The text in the original Croatian version was posted here.)
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