Paul Reubens, Benicio Del Toro, Penelope Ann Miller

There's nothing wrong with Randall Kleiser's Big Top Pee-Wee that Pee-Wee's Big Adventure director Tim Burton wouldn't be able to fix. Take the scene in which entwined farmer and botanis...( read more  read more... )t Pee-Wee and ravishing circus performer Gina (Valeria Golina) blissfully ponder the shapes of the clouds. One can only imagine the wondrous forms Burton would have animated in the heavens. In Kleiser's sequel, they are mere cumulus. A talking pig and a sympathetic gallery of outcast circus performers (including a young Benicio Del Toro as the Dog-Faced Boy) notwithstanding, Big Top squanders much of the first film's magic and goodwill. Blame it on the script, which places arrested adolescent Pee-Wee in a small town that is unaccountably hostile to him. Blame it on Paul Rubens, who, perhaps rebelling against his own iconic creation, puts Pee-Wee in some disquieting libido-fueled situations, such as jumping his schoolteacher girlfriend Winnie (Penelope Ann Miller). "The children," Winnie fights him off as her class looks on. Indeed. --Donald Liebenson

Flixster Users

33% liked it

26,503 ratings

Critics

32% liked it

19 critics

PG, 85 min.

Directed by: Randal Kleiser

Release Date: July 22, 1988

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DVD Release Date: July 6, 2004

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Stats: 725 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (725)


  • October 23, 2007
    Sooooooooooooooooooooooo bad. What happened to our beloved Pee wee's big adventure?
  • June 7, 2007
    The magic and fantasy of Pee-Wee is lost in this sequel. It's gross to see Pee-Wee fall in love with a woman. There aren't any wacky misadventures or gadgets to be seen. Putting Pee-Wee amongst circus folks makes him less unique. A disappointment. It's the only Pee-Wee DVD I won'...( read more)t add to my collection.
  • December 31, 2006
    it's funny
  • September 30, 2009
    This is going to sound astonishing coming from me but...this movie is really weird. First of all, after deciding to move to some small town Pee-Wee suddenly becomes a bizarre pervert. Not the ambiguously psychotic-but-lovable Pee-Wee we knew in Big Adventure. Something's changed,...( read more) perhaps it's the acre of pot he has planted behind his barn. Anyway, Pollyanna rip-off not withstanding, this movie just doesn't work. There's no magic and no motivation to sustain our interest in a character who's always a wrong move away from being unappealing. When Pee-Wee works, as Burton helped illustrate, he's an enigma that shines a larger than life light on his surroundings but at the same time is unknowable. Perhaps the mistake with Big Top was that they tried to delve too deep into his personality instead of keeping his motivations simple.
  • July 29, 2009
    Not as much funny as the first, but still just as awesome. :)
  • June 9, 2009
    Love Pee Wee, this was a funny adventure film!
  • May 18, 2009
    Benicio Del Toro as a wolf boy!
  • April 4, 2009
    I really dug this flick as a kid. Paul Rubens had some misfortunes off screen but he did manage to bring a couple real good kid flicks out.
    Not as good as Big Adventure but still had a lot of magic and a good cast.
  • March 30, 2009
    pee-wee is a pervert! he should be locked up with the rest of the low lifes.
  • March 15, 2009
    Could have done without the sexual direction...

Comments


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  • SciFau
    October 30, 2006
    Just listen to his voice lol

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Big Top Pee-Wee Trivia


  • What was Benicio Del Toro's first movie?  Answer »
  • Tim Burton directed all these movies but one. Which one?  Answer »
  • Tim Burton directed the following films except for which one?  Answer »
  • In what movie did Beniccio del Torro play a dog-faced boy?  Answer »

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