This little piggy went to market.
This little piggy made bucks.
This little piggy begat a sequel.
This little piggy now sucks!
I'll confess, the charm of the original "Babe" passed me by like day-old pork rinds. Yes, Miller's initial batch of barnyard bathos was technically interesting, but a threadbare script and special effects that were as plain as the snout on your face made the entire outing a B+ effort at best.
But now, in true Hollywood fashion, Babe's back and Esme's got 'em.
This foray into the city saps the movie of its main strength, the intimacy and warmth of a bucolic country setting. Also falling victim this go-round is the calming and dignified presence of Hoggett, who is dispatched quickly in the opening sequence (wonder what kind of salary Cromwell got from his three-day shoot?)
What's left, then, is Babe running amok in some sort of uber-city, the set design of which would make Batman's metropolis look like Smallville USA.
Subtlety has been replaced with slapstick, as Esme is bounced around a ballroom like some bovine bungee-jumper. Heartfeltness has been replaced with gruesomeness, as Babe and his computer-boosted co-stars escape the evil clutches of *gasp!* Animal Experimentalists. Quietness has been replaced with a biosterous booming, boinging, belching soundtrack.
All in all, a rather unnecessary sequel--like most, don't you think?
Babe's not the only thing lost in this movie. Somewhere or other, someone managed to mislay the heart of the original.
Skip--or rent if you must.
This little piggy made bucks.
This little piggy begat a sequel.
This little piggy now sucks!
I'll confess, the charm of the original "Babe" passed me by like day-old pork rinds. Yes, Miller's initial batch of barnyard bathos was technically interesting, but a threadbare script and special effects that were as plain as the snout on your face made the entire outing a B+ effort at best.
But now, in true Hollywood fashion, Babe's back and Esme's got 'em.
This foray into the city saps the movie of its main strength, the intimacy and warmth of a bucolic country setting. Also falling victim this go-round is the calming and dignified presence of Hoggett, who is dispatched quickly in the opening sequence (wonder what kind of salary Cromwell got from his three-day shoot?)
What's left, then, is Babe running amok in some sort of uber-city, the set design of which would make Batman's metropolis look like Smallville USA.
Subtlety has been replaced with slapstick, as Esme is bounced around a ballroom like some bovine bungee-jumper. Heartfeltness has been replaced with gruesomeness, as Babe and his computer-boosted co-stars escape the evil clutches of *gasp!* Animal Experimentalists. Quietness has been replaced with a biosterous booming, boinging, belching soundtrack.
All in all, a rather unnecessary sequel--like most, don't you think?
Babe's not the only thing lost in this movie. Somewhere or other, someone managed to mislay the heart of the original.
Skip--or rent if you must.