Ladies and Gentlemen, It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie! This festive feature length special marks the first Muppet reunion in three years, and is a return to the old vaudeville sketch format of the original show (a wise move after the average Muppets from Space).

An affectionate, irreverent swipe at It's A Wonderful Life, It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (from hereon known as IAVMMCM!) puts Kermit in financial hot water, as evil property owner Miss Bitterman (Cusack) threatens to close the Muppet theatre on Christmas Eve unless mortgage payments are made (the Muppets always have their finger / paw / thing on society's pulse).

Kermit suggests a super-sensational, Muppet-mongous musical revue, but all does not go well when Fozzie is trusted with delivering the box office takings, and Kermit wishes he had never been born.

Do-gooding angel David Arquette shows Kermit a nightmare parallel Universe of Muppet muggers and cat-obsessed pigs, leaving Kermit a bit green. And as we know, that is not easy.

As with the original Muppet Show, IAVMMCM bursts with celebrity cameos from Whoopi Goldberg, the cast of Scrubs, William H. Macy, Matthew Lillard and Carson Daly, but phooey to them, it's the Muppets that make a Muppet movie.

You want Miss Piggy wallowing in her ego, Kermit wigging out when the frogspawn hits the fan, Fozzie and his arthritic jokes and Gonzo's manic energy, which is exactly what you get. You also get Scooter cage-dancing in the hideous Kermit-less world, but enough said.

Not as masterful as A Muppet's Christmas Carol, with some songs and gags less than vintage Muppets, IAVMMCM is a still a splendid smorgasbord of seasonal insanity, with spoofs ranging from Star Wars, to The Grinch, A Christmas Story, and my personal favourite, Moulin Scrooge.

Loud, frenetic and with laughs for all ages, this is the best in Christmas chaos.

Rob Daniel