BABE: PIG IN THE CITY Reviewed by Jamie Peck
This "Babe" picks up with the titular porker leading a peaceful existence on the serene country farm of Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell, briefly reprising his Oscar-nominated role from the first movie). But a series of complications and crises leads Babe (voiced by E.G. Daily, who can also be heard as Tommy in "The Rugrats Movie") and Mrs. Hoggett (Magda Szubanski) on a quest for prize money and strands them in a big, frightening metropolis, the abstract likes of which haven't been seen since Tim Burton's last "Batman" film.
There, the pair crash at an inn populated mostly by creatures great and small who also have the gift of gab but live in fear of the city's stringent animal-control policies. Before long, Babe has gained the trust of the hotel hierarchy - including a pair of malapropping chimps (Steven Wright and Glenn Headly) and a wizened orangutan (James Cosmo) - and also a gang of homeless, mock-vicious street strays lead by a tough-talking pitbull (Stanley Ralph Ross); together, they veer in and out of trouble.
That director George Miller (the producer of "Babe" 1) is also the creator of Australia's Mad Max movies seems to explain why "Pig in the City" is such a bizarre film. Miller's impressive visual dynamo steers toward many memorable sights even when the scenes that show them off play on for too long. Couple that with the overt gloom of some passages and you've got prime examples of how this "Babe" might be too much for the wee ones to bear - a depressing sequence where Babe's furry friends get impounded almost extends to the point of morbitiy.
Other affairs that threaten the movie's G-rating include the implication of an airport cavity search for Mrs. Hoggett (!), a crippled terrier who has flashes of the afterlife following a nasty accident, and even glimpses of pretty city girls in thongs that don't leave much to the imagination. But these head-scratching moments are simple distractions, not overt detractions; "Babe: Pig in the City" is simply too fun a fantasy to be hampered by out-of-place moments, especially given that the entire movie blindsides the viewer.
So the first "Babe" ends up winning by a snout, but this handsomely-mounted charmer comes in a close second. All too precious is the film's flawless pastiche of real, animatronic and computer-generated critters - most memorably, a 20-cat chorus that belts out a heavenly rendition of "Three Blind Mice." Though naysayers (make that _neigh_-sayers) may dismiss the notion as just more of the same, a third "Babe" adventure doesn't seem out of the question, because for all of its uncanny nuances and twisted peculiarities, "Pig in the City" brings home the bacon.
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