“Muppets Most Wanted” literally begins where 2011’s “The Muppets” left off: in front of the El Capitan Theater wondering what to do next. Cue the gang’s fourth-wall-breaking, opening song proclaiming “We’re Doing a Sequel” with a flourish of synchronized swimmers, World War II soldiers and death personified — it’s one of the Muppets’ best numbers in a while, full of absurd and meta-humor that seems straight out of the Henson era. In the song, several Muppets pitch plots for the movie you’re about to watch. They land on a world tour concept and you settle in, thankful the Muppets are back.

THE MUPPETS ARE BACK 

But the opening sets the bar too high for the basic plot that follows. The movie resumes with Dominic Badguy — pronounced “Ba-gee” — as the Muppet’s tour manager played by Ricky Gervais. But the world tour is merely an elaborate rouge to cover his dastardly plan to steal the crown jewels of England. And Badguy’s partner is the kung-fu kicking and Kermit look-a-like, Constantine, the world’s most dangerous criminal with a penchant for explosions who swaps places with Kermit.

Kermit is abandoned in a Russian Gulag while Constantine rubs shoulders with the aloof Muppet cast. The Gulag’s run by a Ndaya, Tina Fey’s prison guard character who has a soft spot for showbiz. And Constantine is tracked down by Interpol’s Jean Pierre Napoleon, a performance by Ty Burrell that’s peppered with influence from “The Pink Panther”’s Jacques Clouseau.

CAMEOS AND SONGS LIFT MOVIE TO FAMILIAR HEIGHTS

It’s a generic story without many surprises. But that’s not always why we watch the Muppets. For starters, this movie is stuffed with cameos, more than the last installment —  I lost count somewhere around twenty. Lady Gaga shows up, Christoph Waltz does the waltz, Zach Galifianakis reprises his Hobo Joe role and Danny Trejo is a Gulag inmate named Danny Trejo.

Songwriter Bret McKenzie returns, offering tunes that teeter between hits and misses. As mentioned, “We’re Doing a Sequel” is pure Muppets, and a slightly catchy tune to boot. The delightfully silly “I’ll Get You What You Want (Cockatoo in Malibu)” has Constantine wooing Miss Piggy with a string of ridiculous gifts from diamond rings and puppy dogs to mortgage loans to armadillos. And each guest star gets their own song. The best of the three is Tina Fey’s moment with “The Big House” that acts as Kermit’s tour of the Gulag — but even this falls flat at times. “I’m Number One “ is Ricky Gervais’ duet with Constantine that drags out a joke and Ty Burrell’s  “Interrogation Song” with Sam the Eagle is rather unimpressive. When the movie ends on a rendition of previous Muppet hit, “Together Again,” you wish there was one more original song to match the opening’s bravado.

And though there are plenty of gags, there’s a noticeable absence of the Muppet patented puns, meta-humor and self-deprecation. You’ll laugh, but if you’re a Muppet fanatic, you’ll feel something missing. The opening is chock full of those familiar stunts. But even then, if that’s the movie’s shtick, it never gets revisited. They should at least retitle the flick to something like “The Muppets … Again!”

But it’s hard to let these issues bog the movie down. We love these movies because we love the Muppets. It’s like a reunion of lifelong friends — even if they seem different, you end up losing yourself in the antics and smiles. It’s not the same excellence as 2011’s “The Muppets,” and “The Lego Movie” currently dominates the market for quality family entertainment. But if Kermit and the gang simply wish to make millions of people happy, they’re doing a swell job at it.