Muppets From Space

After the disappointment of Muppet Treasure Island three years ago, it looked as if Kermit & Company were destined for the store cupboard. Not a bit of it.

This new incarnation is fresher than The Phantom Menace and almost as funny as South Park. The live action puppet mix works a treat, due to Jeffrey Tambor, Andie MacDowell and Ray Liotta behaving as if soft toys are not necessarily soft.

The wit that is their trademark has not been dissipated by fame. Kermit, the perfect gentlefrog, allows others to take centre stage and Miss Piggy, once the prima donna, no longer forces herself forward like an iceberg in search of the Titanic.

This is Gonzo's story and begins with strange messages in his breakfast cereal. He is an excuse for a bird, associate member of a persecuted minority and Rizzo the Rat's friend. He's feeling sorry for himself, because he has no family and is not really a species, when one morning his alphabet ricicles spell out the words: WATCH THE SKY.

What follows is a stirring adventure, involving the entire Muppet household, a top secret government establishment, the brain surgeon Dr Van Neuter and aliens from another planet. Those who are allergic to Muppetry will find it difficult not to enjoy this and those who used to love them can do so again.