Opis: Sprytna i wyjątkowo gadatliwa świnka Babe powraca na ekran w drugiej
części swych przygód wyruszając wraz panią Hogett i kaczorem Ferdym do
miasta na doroczną wystawę, by ratować gospodarzy swej rodzimej farmy
przed bankructwem. Sprawy przyjmują nienajlepszy obrót bowiem Babe
zostaje porwana, a pani Hogett trafia do aresztu. Na szczęście dzielna
świnka szybko uczy się jak dawać sobie radę w miejskiej dżungli.
Deservedly acclaimed as one of 1998's best films, this sequel to the
beloved 1995 live-action fantasy proved a commercial catastrophe and a
source of dismay to parents expecting another bucolic, sweet-natured
fable. Every bit as sly and visually stunning as its predecessor, Babe: Pig in the City
is otherwise a jolting ride beyond the Hoggetts' farm into a no less
vivid but far darker world--the allegorical city of the title, which for
the diminutive "sheep pig" proves truly nightmarish. Australian
filmmaker George Miller (Mad Max, The Road Warrior), who
produced and cowrote the first film, this time takes the director's
reins, and he ratchets up the pace and the peril as effectively as he
did on his influential trilogy of apocalyptic, outback sci-fi thrillers.
From the opening scene, Babe: Pig in the City
means to disrupt the reassuring calm achieved by the conclusion of the
previous film. Babe's prior triumph proves short-lived, and within
moments Miller has us literally peering into the depths as he sets up a
horrific well accident that nearly kills the taciturn but good-hearted
Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell), Babe's beloved "Boss." Journeying with
the equally pink, even plumper Mrs. Hoggett (Magda Szubanski), the young
pig finds himself in a city where animals are outcasts, staying in the
lone hotel that allows pets. When Mrs. Hoggett is detained, Babe must
contend with the suspicions and rivalries of the hotel's other
four-legged guests. The film's G status doesn't fully telegraph the
shock Miller induces: bad things happen to good animals, and Babe's new
acquaintances are a far cry from his colleagues on the farm. In
particular, he must contend with a cynical family of chimps given
wonderful, dead-pan voice characterisations by Steven Wright and Glenne
Headly.
Miller's use of effects to transform his animals into "actors" is even more seamlessly integrated than in Babe.
The sequel's production design is crucial to the creation of a
complete, absorbing world, and purely visual ideas--such as a deluge of
blue balloons during the climactic ballroom battle--achieve a splendour
and originality that a room full of computer-graphics desktops couldn't
muster. Ultimately, though, the film does more than amaze: as Babe's
compassion and courage transform those around him, we're moved in ways
that purveyors of by-the-numbers family fare can only dream of.
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