Babe: Pig in the City
Rating (out of five): **
Starring Elizabeth Daily, Magda Szubanski, James Cromwell, Mary Stein, Danny Mann, Glenne Headly, Steven Wright, James Cosmo, Adam Goldberg and Mickey Rooney Directed by George Miller Rated G, but contains some scary situations Theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 Released in 1998 Running 97 minutes
The original Babe gets my vote as the best family film since The Princess Bride, and it's sequel has been getting rave reviews from most internet critics, both Siskel and Ebert sighting it more than a month ago as one of the year's finest films. So, naturally, when I entered the screening room that was to be showing the movie and there was nary another viewer to be found, this notion left me puzzled. It is a rare thing for a children's movie to be praised this highly, so wouldn't you think that every parent in the entire city would be flocking with their kids to see this supposedly "magical" piece of work? A tad bewildered, but pleased to not have to worry about screaming kids and other disruptions that commonly go along with family films, I sat back for 97 minutes and watched intently and with a very open mind, having great expectations for the film. Looking back, I should have taken the hint and left right when I entered the theater.
Believe me; I wanted to like Babe: Pig in the City. The plot seemed interesting enough; after the events that took place in the original, Babe the sheep-pig has become a legitimate national phenomenon. But after a fateful encounter with a water well, Arthur Hogget (James Cromwell, who the movie could have used alot more of) has been rendered bed-ridden for a number of weeks and the farm begins to go under financially. The only solution that his wife (Magda Szubanski, going from delightfully charming to downright annoying) can come up with is to make an appearance with their new celebrity pet at a national fair (I think) and to use the money they earn to pay off the bank (set aside for the moment the fact that they could get more than enough cash from donations if they just made their case known to the public). Problem is, the fair is being held in the middle of the dreaded "city", a completely foreign place to both the pig and his companion.
Setting the main plot in motion, Mrs. Hogget and Babe travel to the unnamed city and shack up with a sweet lady who just happens to love to help animals, despite the law that you cannot keep them in hotels. It is here that we meet an array of eccentric characters, the most memorable being the family of chimps led by Steven Wright.
Here is where the film took a wrong turn. Up until this point, I had being having a rather enjoyable experience. The beginning featured some smart writing and funny situations involving the farm animals from the first one and even an inspired moment at the airport where Mrs. Hogget is accused of smuggling drugs. Unfortunately, the story wears thin as we are introduced to a new set of animals that reside at the hotel, none of them being even one-tenth as interesting as the characters from the previous Babe.
The main topic of discussion surrounding Babe: Pig in the City is the question of whether or not it is to dark and disturbing for small children, and I believe it is. At one point, a dog is hung from his neck and slowly starts to drown. At other times, we are treated to surrealistic flash-backs to Mrs. Hogget's full cavity search at the airport. In fact, the overall tone of the movie is rather bleak and depressing. However, that is, as they say, neither here nor there because kids will probably not like the movie anyway. The animal characters and their plights were simply not intriguing enough to sustain my interest for an hour and a half, let alone entertain a child.
Another problem I found with the film was it's sudden change of pacing and tone near the end of the story. If you're going to make a darker and more sinister sequel, fine. It may not be my cup of tea, but at least it is a noble ambition. But to go from the downbeat feel of the rest of the movie and all of a sudden have slapstick finale with Mrs. Hogget swinging from wall-to-wall of a ballroom in elastic overalls? It just didn't feel right and was more painful to watch than it was funny or entertaining, and the same goes for the rest of the movie.
*Complimentary movie ticket courtesy of Valley Cinemas at http://www.movie-tickets.com
**Homepage at: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/7475
Copyright 1998 Jason Wallis
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