Talking animals are no longer a thing of legends and fairy tales, not anymore since the film industry has discovered the use of computer animation. And let's be honest: who wouldn't like to be able to talk with his/her dog, cat, bird, fish or whatever kind of pet that you own. So when a movie is made with talking animals, success is almost guaranteed, certainly when the main "character" is a young animal.
But we also know that when a movie is successful, a second one will soon follow. That's how we got "Babe: Pig in the City". The biggest problem with sequels is that they almost never seem to reach or improve the standards of the original. Somehow it always seems that sequels aren't much more but easy money makers and I'm afraid this movie isn't an exception.
It's still very nice to see that little pig walking around, talking with all kinds of animals, but a pig belongs on a farm or at least in the countryside, not in a city. But OK, even when the location isn't too well chosen, that still doesn't mean that the movie can't be good, right? Right, but not entirely true in this case. The makers of the movie have made some kind of caricature of the entire city and its inhabitants, making it all very weird and sometimes unbelievable. If only the city had looked a bit better, I wouldn't have had such a problem with it. Now it looked more like a Disney version of Venice.
But not everything about the movie was bad of course. What I did like was the story: The piggy has to raise some money, because otherwise the farm will be sold. It will go to a sheep herding competition with the farmer's wife, but never gets there because of some circumstances.
All in all this isn't a bad movie, for grown-ups as well as for children. Children will love the animals, adults may see some underlying messages in it. I give it a 6.5/10
But we also know that when a movie is successful, a second one will soon follow. That's how we got "Babe: Pig in the City". The biggest problem with sequels is that they almost never seem to reach or improve the standards of the original. Somehow it always seems that sequels aren't much more but easy money makers and I'm afraid this movie isn't an exception.
It's still very nice to see that little pig walking around, talking with all kinds of animals, but a pig belongs on a farm or at least in the countryside, not in a city. But OK, even when the location isn't too well chosen, that still doesn't mean that the movie can't be good, right? Right, but not entirely true in this case. The makers of the movie have made some kind of caricature of the entire city and its inhabitants, making it all very weird and sometimes unbelievable. If only the city had looked a bit better, I wouldn't have had such a problem with it. Now it looked more like a Disney version of Venice.
But not everything about the movie was bad of course. What I did like was the story: The piggy has to raise some money, because otherwise the farm will be sold. It will go to a sheep herding competition with the farmer's wife, but never gets there because of some circumstances.
All in all this isn't a bad movie, for grown-ups as well as for children. Children will love the animals, adults may see some underlying messages in it. I give it a 6.5/10