Written by Paul Reubens and George McGrath
Hero. Lover. Legend.
Everyone was in love with Pee-wee Herman in the 1980's. Well, almost. Tim Burton lost touch towards the end of the show with Pee-wee, also known as Paul Reubens. However, the public obviously wanted more, and so "Big Top Pee-wee" was born in 1988, the second of two Pee-wee movies released.
Whereas the previous movie focused on Reubens' adventures finding his lost bike, the unofficial sequel placed Reubens with a capering band of carnival and circus kin, defending them from the local hostiles who don't take kindly to the freakish folk. Most of the characters were casted well, though the acting is what you'd expect from a Pee-wee film.
If you're familiar with Pee-Wee antics and the normal ridiculous humor from the show, then this movie is perfect for you if you haven't seen it. For example, Pee-wee is forced to eat his girlfriend's (Winnie is her name) egg salad sandwiches. Not enjoying the taste, Pee-wee then turns and chucks the sandwich hundreds of miles over a distant mountain. Sheer comedic brilliance.
All in all, the movie was quite funny, though not as much of a cult hit as the previous movie, "Pee-wee's Big Adventure". I felt that both movies were equally funny and ridiculous, though the plot of the previous movie was quite a bit more, well, enthralling. Defending carnies just isn't my idea of a storyline.