When I was little, I was pretty into Pee-Wee. I grew up watching Big Adventure, and loved Pee-Wee's Playhouse. When I was little I was scared of Jambi and would run out of the room, waiting until my siblings said it was okay to come back in. This fact is unimportant, but funny. Of course after a while I just expected not to get any more of this red bow tie wearing childhood hero. I think that would have been okay however. Playhouse is mostly only good if you have the right sense of humor or nostalgia, Big Adventure is still pretty decent but I do understand those that don't like it, and Big Top Pee-Wee is... weird but in a good way. I have also seen the special Pre-Adventure, and the more recent one. I guess we really had a decent amount of Pee-Wee but for some reason a lot of us felt just a bit incomplete, waiting for another installment despite our constantly increasing age. Tonight, I finally got this.
The film's story revolves around Pee-Wee never having left his small town, which only works if you consider him not remembering the events of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and the Playhouse being somewhere in the vicinity. He works at a diner, which is good for us to know because I always wondered how he got money. Pee-Wee is quite happy in his life until Joe Manganiello rides in on his motorcycle and hangs out with Pee-Wee for a little bit. Joe suggests going on vacation and then gives Pee-Wee an invitation to his birthday party in New York. Then rides off to who knows where. So Pee-Wee decides for the first time in his life to go on Holiday, except for the one time he tried when he won a trip to Salt Lake City and promptly crashed when leaving town, ending in him getting a metal plate in his head.
Some of the film's jokes and subject matter are a bit adult in nature, which makes sense because Pee-Wee has always been that way. There is the familiar road trip motif from Big Adventure throughout, as well as dream sequences which are mostly Pee-Wee hanging out with Joe at his birthday party. Those dream sequences, while not as amazing as the Tim Burton themed ones of before, are pretty awesome.
This film didn't have quite the budget of the others, or maybe just didn't use it as well. That doesn't mean it isn't funny however. I laughed out loud a couple times and that is pretty impressive for me since I rarely do that. There is a lot of weird stuff and Pee-Wee related things going on throughout. This is exactly what we want. It does still feel not as good or grandiose as Big Adventure, and more like a weird copy of that film. However, it is a good copy of it and certainly isn't the same movie at all.
Is this the movie we were expecting? Probably not. Is it the movie we were destined to get? Yes. You see, it has been a long time since Pee-Wee hosted a carnival at his farm in Big Top Pee-Wee, a film which a surprising amount of people don't like. I like that movie and I expected Big Holiday to be a little closer to that quality of film. I honestly think this movie captures Pee-Wee and his character a little better though, and will watch this movie again. I very much enjoyed it because I knew what to expect. It was awesome to see more Pee-Wee. The movie didn't quite scratch the itch, but if they never make another Pee-Wee related thing again, I will be satisfied that I got another. It is worthy of the franchise as a whole and should be appealing to fans. I rated the film 4 out of 5 stars on my Netflix account so it must be that good right? Maybe so, but I am already a fan, so I am naturally attuned to give Pee-Wee an extra star. Regardless, don't hesitate if you are a fan of Pee-Wee. It is well worth the watch.
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