As evidenced by the survey of comments on this site alone, people either love or hate this movie. Unfortunately, I hate this movie.<br /><br />I wanted to love this movie. Really. I loved the first one. But "Babe 2" was the worst sort of sequel - not only was it just disappointingly bad, it actually ruined the pleasure you got from the first film.<br /><br />One of the greatest thing about the first film was Babe's relationship with Farmer Hoggett. In "Babe 2," the formerly dignified Farmer Hoggett is only in it for about 10 minutes, but in that short time, he's flung down a well, and then makes goofy gestures. He's completely robbed of his dignity. I mean, did anyone enjoy seeing Farmer Hoggett's head being slammed over and over and passing out?<br /><br />In fact, all the humans in "Babe 2" are frighteningly abused, for no good reason. Mickey Rooney, a very creepy clown, literally just drops dead. Mrs. Hoggett is strip-searched by drug agents, is doused with a bucket of glue, and then is flung around a ballroom on a bungee, dressed in the dead clown's costume, no less. Was this all really necessary? In a movie that kids watch? It wasn't funny, it was just sad. Very sad. Abysmally sad. Not to mention completely pointless.<br /><br />And in the first movie, Babe the pig had a unique mission, making his triumph truly sweet and heartwarming. The storyline was singularly original. And the first movie dealt with some real-life issues (at least in the animal world), which gave weight to the notions of fate and destiny, which was nicely intoned throughout the movie by the narrator.<br /><br />In "Babe 2," all the obstacles are contrived and trivial, so the attendant triumph becomes hollow and pointless. And if you think about it, Babe the pig doesn't actually do anything. He just gets chased around, or just acts witless, and does things that everyone tells him to do. The first movie was about Babe's courage and originality. In this movie, he's led around like... a sheep. (how very ironic.) You never root for him, because he has nothing to accomplish.<br /><br />I was deeply disappointed. I had to watch the first movie over again, just to cleanse my palate, but I'm still in mourning.