Dennis the Menace (1993)

a review of the live action movie

After watching such great movies during the mid 1990s, I stumbled upon this one. Based on a comic strip by Hank Ketcham, this is Dennis the Menace the movie, featuring the voice talents of Walter Mathew, Mason Gamble, Joan Plowright, Lea Thompson, Paul Winfield, and Christopher Lloyd.

It tells the story of our likable character named Dennis, who is out of school for the summer, is too plain busy annoying his next-door neighbor Mr. Wilson. Meanwhile, a threatening villian named Switchblade Sam, steals all of the people's belongings and its up to Dennis to save the day.

There are a few things that were wrong with this adaptation.

It was written by John Hughes, who wrote screenplays for such great movies. Then, all of a sudden, he planned to reused the same jokes from Home Alone and he put them in this adaptation of a comic strip. None of them were funny and they would've been much better. The storyline had too many plot holes like "Why the heck was Dennis busy trying to annoy Mr. Wilson while Christopher Lloyd was stealing people's stuff?" and more. There was going to be violence but in the most gentle way.

Now for the good parts.

The setting is very creative to take place from the comic books. Even the houses (especially the Mitchell's house and the Wilson's house was great) were worth a see to look at. The actors were portraying the characters were in fact very likable. The chemistry between Dennis/Mr. Wilson was great. Even the "Hey Mr. Wilson!" line stayed true to this movie. The antagonist in this movie was in fact very threatening especially in a kids movie. The Jerry Goldsmith music score was amazing and had a lot of emotion to it.

Is it the worst movie of all time? No, but it doesn't even hold the candle to the comics. It's the weakest, yet harmless adaptation not intended for adults, but only for the kids and it is worth a watch on DVD or VHS.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Comments

"...featuring the voice talents of..."

This line bugged me more than anything else in the review. It isn't a cartoon. These people are physically in the movie...

I'm not seeing how Dennis annoying Mr. Wilson while Christopher Lloyd was stealing people's stuff is a plot hole, unless by plot hole you mean plot. Also it seemed like you barely scratched the surface of what was good and what was bad with the movie

I'm doing Quest For Camelot as a article and I'm try to make it even more longer than my other articles and I'll publish it sooner or later.

You also need to proofread and check on the spelling of names: Walter Matthau (NOT Mathew). You can see his name on the picture of the poster you posted.

If you are planning on continuing to review movies, I suggest reading some by Roger Ebert, A.O. Scott, other reviewers, and the better movie review articles on this site. This way you can get a better understanding of what makes them good articles.

You're right. I'm sorry. I'll try to make an even longer article next time.

Here's an idea, next time you write an article how about actually putting in a little effort. Seriously, this section is called "Articles" and "Blurbs." Your articles need more substance.

I agree with Benjanime. There should have been more depth in the whole review. Why would you give such a low rating from one negative aspect? There were other clever aspects. Like how Mrs. Wilson is such a sweetheart and treats Dennis like her grandson. Mention the Pork and Beans scene, watching Lloyd's belly protrude and face covered in beans as he sits there hog-tied. Also another thing you could have put into this review was more screen captures. Not everyone is here to read articles, but to see the pictures, they speak more than writing itself.

five minute review. you should add more depth into the subjects you write about. you could have made this in a page length