CineBad!!!

I guess this isn’t technically a “futuristic” Dystopia, since it takes place in the past, but it contains all of the elements of that genre. Since there’s no “antiquated Dystopia” category, just deal with the inaccuracy!

The most sinister thing about this film is how they changed the ending. Sure, it wasn’t true to the book, but it actually managed to completely negate the entire book in the process. It was kind of creepy how the ending basically said “captivity and domesticity is best.” Hello? What’s the point of even making a movie out of the book, whose only point seemed to be to make a political statement, if you don’t make the political statement? Why not just make Babe III: Pig On Jones’s Farm?

They added other things in as well– hmmm, I don’t remember Farmer Jones gettin’ it on with the neighbor’s lecherous wife in the book. What was the point? Because I guess cute animals and violence aren’t enough to make a film anymore– even with lots of both, you still need a little boo-tay to round things off. Gee, I sound like one of those Christian network movie reviewers! But it’s true!

The animals themselves were pretty good in this, despite the sometimes cheesy computer graphics. How could Captain Picard not add an air of dignity to the voice of a pig–even a fascist pig? The addition of newsreels to the propaganda arsenal of the pigs is sort of cheesy as well. It’s sort of funny, though, when the pigs show a Nazi-like training film showing geese who are goose-stepping and singing a patriotic song.

All in all, the book was completely obvious in the message it delivered. Still, when you see it acted out on screen, the obvious message hitting home is, well, too obvious. I think they could have made the connection between farm animals and Soviet Communism a little more subtle, but whatever. The non-subtle nature made it grade-A cheese!