The Muppets Wizard of Oz (2005)

Given the supremely high marks that people generally give The Wizard of Oz and anything to do with the Muppets, this movie sucked big-time (sort of like that fakey cyclone effect Dorothy had going on there). Ashanti (whose opening scenes mimic a music video) can sing like a songbird, but she can't act to save her soul. She has three facial expressions: amused, tentative, and blank (her favorite). The musical numbers are entirely forgettable. Fozzie sounds like Miss Piggy half the time. The sets and lighting are uninspired (save the art nouveau traceries of Oz, however, they bathe everything in neon green). Gonzo as the Tin Thing shows a spark of inventiveness and spirit, and Miss Piggy and her biker gang are a sight to see. However, the adult references were all off-color and highly inappropriate for a Muppets movie. (A low-cut, big-boobed woman waggles her hokey-pokey for Gonzo and turns into a chicken in the clunkiest chunk of computer animation I have ever seen.) This movie really was pathetic. Queen Latifah cannot act either yet she and Miss Piggy were the brightest stars in this shilled piece of schlock. Two stars.