Dennis

Nick Castle's directing is amazing. The timing, the perfect camera angles, the rapport between the cast, and much more, are just remarkable. This little boy, Mason Gamble (who won the Young Artist Award for Best Youth Actor Leading Role in a Motion Picture Comedy in this film) is amazing at such a young age. This movie brings the comic strip alive MUCH better than the old TV show ever did. Jerry Goldsmith's music is perfect, Walter Matthau perfectly portrays the grumpy old Mr. Wilson in a way he couldn't even achieve in Grumpy Old Men. In fact, I have no problem proclaiming he has never been funnier. Christopher Lloyd is pure genius as an evil thief. I won't spoil it at all, but trust me when I say that Dennis the Menace manages make life miserable for Mr. Wilson and others, and comes out squeaky clean, as a child hero like him must. WATCH IT, BE IN A GOOD MOOD, AND YOU WILL LLOOVVEE IT! (Of course, if you naturally just don't like one of the actors in the movie or come with some other sort of bias, I can't help you.)

This movie is without a doubt identical to the comic strip. The characters look exactly alike, especially Dennis's parents. And I don't think anyone could have played a better Mr. Wilson than Walter Mattau. This is what makes the movie so good. Another familiar actor is Christopher Lloyd (from the "Back to the Future" trilogy and "The Pagemaster) who plays the robber. I remember when I rented this at my local grocery store, I saw the scene where the robber kidnaps Dennis and ties him up. Then Dennis tells him the only right way to tie him up so that he won't be able to get away. The robber has handcuffs and the key falls into the beans he's cooking. Dennis is forced to feed the robber beans in order to find the key. After this the robber farts in the fire. This scene was cut when shown on TNT. Watch this movie and see for yourself how wonderful it is.

For me, this cinema version featuring the innocent mischief of cartoonist Hank Ketcham's precocious hyperactive preschooler, Dennis (The Menace) Mitchell, is a classic sleeper. Remarkable performances by Mason Gamble (as "Dennis Mitchell") and Walter Matthau (as "Mr. Wilson") help to mold the screenplay into a delightful light-hearted comedy intended for the whole family. I, personally, look forward to the day that its presentation is offered in DVD format.

There are some things that went wrong with this film and I never read the comic strip, but I don't think it's as bad as everyone says it is. I'll start off with the positives.

The acting on the whole isn't that bad. Walter Matthau did a good job as Mr. Wilson as did Robert Stanton, Lea Thompson and Joan Plowright, but I think that Mason Gamble steals the show as the most likable title character who got the personality and characterization right. Even his chemistry with Walter Matthau was decent. Also, Christopher Lloyd was very sinister as the main villain and he steals the show as well. The scenery is nice and it has some nice cinematography. I also liked the music from Jerry Goldsmith. Not the best here, but still worth listening.

However, the story, while having its nice moments, falls into the predictable zone and the script feels flat and would've been so much better. Some of the humor gave me some chuckles (Dennis causing some trouble to Mr. Wilson and the baked beans farting scene), but some of them lacked wit and the pacing was very mediocre.

Overall, uneven with it's story and pacing, but not as bad as some say it is. I'm giving this a 6/10 because of it's likable cast and some nice scenery.

"Dennis the Menace" is unique in its own way because it's observant. This movie made me laugh at stuff i've always laughed at and things i'd never thought I would laugh at. The film can be surprisingly innocent at times and sincere and heartwarming. And the kid who plays Dennis is a way better actor than Macaulay Culkin. I liked the film for its imagination and humor. A good film. I also liked how they showed Dennis trying to resist the temptation to do something bad but can't resist.