Big Top Pee-wee

I think PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE is one of the great cinematic pleasures of the 1980s - a coloring book come to life. This film is everything that its predecessor is not. Such a disappointment! I'm not going to over-analyze a Pee-Wee Herman movie, but let me give you two major complaints. 1) There are no interesting supporting characters here, whereas BIG ADVENTURE had a tapestry of unforgettable personalities, some of which were onscreen for only moments but left a lasting impression. 2) Forgive me for being blunt, but I don't want to see a horny Pee-Wee Herman. One of the joys of this character is his innocence and childlike naïveté. To see him jumping on not one but two characters is disheartening. I must also credit Tim Burton for making the first Pee-Wee Herman movie such a marvelous concoction of whimsy and bliss. This feels like nothing more than a pale Xerox!

The sequel to Pee-wee's Big Adventure, which was directed by Tim Burton, Big Top Pee-wee stars Paul Reubens in what is a brand new Pee-wee Herman adventure mostly divorced from the original film. ​ With Randal Kleiser taking over directing duties, Pee-wee now finds himself living on the farm. His iconic home from the first film is nowhere to be seen, Speck the dog is absent, the colorful world we came to know in Pee-wee's Big Adventure is no more. This feeling is matched in the story itself as Pee-wee copes with the fact that his life has changed so much. Pee-wee is in a relationship with Winnie (Penelope Ann Miller) but all they do is have sandwiches together, so there's some frustration there. And then, after a tornado, the circus crashes into Pee-wee's yard... Following Tim Burton's iconic first movie was always going to be tough but this sequel makes a fine attempt. The new setting and general vibe are jarring, at first, but the film invites you into this Big Top story so skillfully that you'll be in for the ride pretty quickly. Danny Elfman is back on scoring duties, though he introduces a brand new theme here, which is surprising also. Paul Reubens continues to be a riot as the bizarre man-child Pee-wee, while Kris Kristofferson brings some good old-fashioned earnestness to the film giving it a timeless old Hollywood feel. The love triangle between Pee-wee, Winnie and trapeze artist Gina (Valeria Golino) should mostly entertain less young viewers because of the edgier humor and innuendos. ​ Big Top Pee-wee feels very different but it also makes sense as a sequel. Dropping Pee-wee in a fresh environment keeps things new but the tone isn't a departure from the one set by Tim Burton, it just works in its own unique way. It lacks the energy and visual punch of the original, true, but it's funny, clever and it has a good amount of charm. This one deserved better.

Big Top Pee Wee was an amazing movie. I watched it this morning so it is fresh in my mind. Big Top Pee Wee was a funny movie, and guess what? I LOVE comedy. Big Top Pee Wee was also a very bizarre movie. What a good movie. I give it a 71%.

No longer charmingly random, just random and boring.

LOL, the funniest 01 hour: and 26 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!

One of Paul Reubens' biggest theatrical embarrassments. It lacks the charm of Playhouse, and doesn't have ANY of its characters (no Miss Yvonne, Reba, no one). No wonder if got a $15 million box off ice return. Taking a bizarre and inexplicable turn, this travesty has no connection to either the first film or the television series. I don't find circus humor funny at all. Not too mention the love interest is a one-dimensional joke; she's no Dottie OR Miss Yvonne.

Forgettable next to the first film. Probably because Tim Burton wasn't involved.

Not even PeeWee Herman himself could save this movie...It had a great start, but the story got very boring and it honestly lost my attention. It was just lots of talk with no actual excitement or laughs.

Ugghh. This is painfully unfunny and boring. 20 minutes in and the only funny bit was the bit where pee wee tells the kids"take a picture! It'll last longer!" They showed basically 10 minutes of Pee Wee doing chores and eating bad egg salad sandwiches with a bland love interest before going out for cheese sandwiches from a crusty old man. I get trying to top Pee Wee's Big Adventure is a tough task but they clearly phoned this one in hard. No one here is even remotely likable. Paul is phoning it in. He clearly didn't want to be a part of this disaster. The setting is even drab and listless. Almost nothing but brown and dingy colors. Gone is Tim Burton's pizazz and flair and in is a TV movie style movie. Big Adventure is worth watching. This one is better off forgotten.

A storm blows Cabrini Circus onto agricultural scientist Pee-Wee Herman's (Paul Reubens) farmland and Pee-Wee must help ringmaster Mace Montana (Kris Kristofferson) and the gang overcome the prejudice of the local townsfolk to put on a great show. Circuses have always provided great cinematic fodder, ever since the days of Charlie Chaplin getting caught in a lion's cage sixty years earlier. Unfortunately, placing your characters in the context of a circus doesn't always produce a guaranteed winner. Pee-Wee's character is much more abrasive in this sequel, particularly when dealing with two old ladies while trying to acquire a cheese sandwich. He's also a bit of a pervert this time around as well. Seriously, he's jumping on his fiancee Winnie (Penelope Ann Miller) every chance he gets and what's with his fetishistic attraction to hair? Even when properly meeting Gina Piccolapupula (Valeria Golino) for the first time, he ogles her cleavage until he passes out! This is not the Pee-Wee I remember from the original motion picture. "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" was one crazy set-up after another with very little downtime. "Big Top Pee-Wee" has long stretches where I caught myself glancing at my watch and wondering when the next moderate chuckle would arrive. So much of this film simply falls flat on its face. Vance, the talking pig, didn't seem like a good idea to me when I was young and the movie was newly released - now he's downright intolerable. Jokes about bulimia and sexual intercourse feel out of place in a Pee-Wee film. It's nice to hear Danny Elfman's returning score, but Tim Burton's creativity and outlandish style are sorely missed in the directorial chair. Randal Kleiser certainly wasn't up to the task of filling Burton's boots. Reubens' childlike innocence in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" struck audiences as if it were a magical lightning bolt. I guess it's true what they say: lightning never strikes the same place twice.