Horrible Henry, le film

Firstly, Angelica Houston is in this film. Just let that fact permeate your mind, then watch as your sense of reality untangles itself and pours out of your ears and onto the floor in a pool of brain soup.

Angelica Houston is in this film. How on earth did that happen?

Now for the film: A group of reactionary and psychologically abusive adults spend 90 minutes shouting at their children until they morph into a clichéd group of personality disorders.

The kids are either good or bad, horrid or perfect. And they've learned to shout and scream at each other because they find certain behaviours unacceptable. It's a Freudian car crash.

No doubt these poor kids are destined for a life of depression, alcoholism, and dysfunctional relationships. At least one of them will be arrested; another sectioned under the Mental Health Act; several will go onto psychologically torture their own children.

It's not my cup of tea, but I'm not the intended audience. I'd rather watch Koyaanisqatsi. So I'll be fair and score it 5/10.

England's very first Kids 3D film turned out to be Horrid Henry The Movie. The Horrid Henry books became a big success in the UK alone. They created an animated series in 2006 and now they have created a movie in 2011.

I am a fan of the Horrid Henry books. I also thought the series wasn't too bad either. Then when the film came out I thought it would be good to go and see it.

The characters looked great. But the way the actors performed them was very disappointing. I would call this bad acting. The way they performed each role was very poor. Each one did look like the characters in the books and series, but most of them didn't feel like it was the characters you know in the books. The actual plot was poor as well. It felt like a plot that you would see in an episode of the cartoon series. They could have thought of something much better than what they chose.

I would say that there was one actor in this that did fit the part of her character. That person is Anjelica Huston who played the part of Miss Battleaxe. She really did play the part of Miss Battleaxe really well. She was only on for a few scenes and I think she needed to be in this film a bit longer than she was.

I would not say this is a family film. I would say this is just for kids younger than 8. It might be more entertaining for them than it is for anyone older. It was very disappointing for me; it was actually an insult to the books. I hate saying stuff like that about movies, but I'm afraid I had to say it.

Written By Jamie Foster

It's odd reading all the reviews critiquing this film in terms of editing, plot etc and marking it down.

There is one golden rule when watching children's movies - take children, leave your adult experience in the foyer.

My two girls - 5 and 8 - loved it. I didn't but that really doesn't matter.

I've given it an average rating taking into account my score - 3 - and the girls' score - 9. The girls' score is the only one that matters.

So far they've watched it about 5 times, and keep yelling at me from the other room to come in quick because "this bit is really funny".

That's enough for me.

Without laughing out loud at any time, actually two barely audible giggles, I enjoyed this film. Not least because there is something like a story at the heart of it.

Stuffed with top notch British acting talent all of whom have a good time exaggerating their own stereotype, 'Horrid Henry: the movie' is a pleasure to watch. All the adult roles are drawn as cartoon caricatures and faintly repulsive with it, even the delightful Miss Lovely is an overdrawn figure of loveliness. Personally I found the Dick and Dom take on scary syncopated kids TV presenters a little too close to the spooky for comfort, but they're a bit like that anyway.

The children in the story get on with sorting out the adult mess in the usual manner of child drama, and because there is a story proceedings move along nicely. The 'fantasy' scenes are well done, with a couple of nice jokes at the expense of CGI trickery.

All in all good stuff and I recommend it for fans of Horrid Henry whether they come by book, audio book or the TV cartoon series.

While the kids in the audience enjoyed it, you may feel as I did that all this good time fun doesn't quite get into the wow territory the film is clearly striving for. But don't let that worry you, we don't need another blockbuster just yet. Na na ne na na na.

I love the books and the TV series, and although I was very dubious of seeing Horrid Henry:The Movie, especially after hearing it had 3D and Dick and Dom, part of me was eager to see it. So I did, expecting an entertaining enough movie on its own terms.

What I got was a real disappointment. It wasn't horrid, but overall it was the weakest films I've seen so far this year and one of the most disappointing. The only good things for me were Theo Stevenson's spirited performance and the jaunty soundtrack.

Firstly I didn't like how the film looked. It was certainly colourful but also in a sense over-saturated. Horrid Henry:The Movie was quite badly edited as well, constantly it felt very awkward and rushed.

The costumes are also rather cartoony in style. I wasn't happy that Horrid Henry:The Movie would have 3D effects, I frankly didn't think it needed it, and after seeing I still wasn't happy. I still think they were unnecessary, and the lack of clarity and sharpness in the effects themselves cheapened the film for me.

The story was another minus, overall I found it very rushed and predictable with little of the charm and simplicity that the books and TV series had. The only thing I liked about the story was the lack of the over-sentimental(or it can be) "I love you son" sort of ending.

The writing was messy, the dialogue is often weak and the laughs feel forced. When I saw it the closest the audience came to laughing were a couple of barely audible giggles. Kids either had a sort of amused expression or a sense they weren't sure whether they were supposed to laugh but a lot of adults looked as though they wished they had a triple detention instead.

The cast are talented, but at least to me the film just seemed like an excuse to bring in as many British or TV personalities as possible. Many of them try hard and overdo it, Richard E.Grant definitely applies here, or are wasted, Jo Brand, or don't try, Matthew Horne.

I know they deliberately exaggerated Miss Lovely's character, or so it seemed, but the characterisation was a little too over-eager and sugary for my tastes. Anjelica Huston fares better, she is a wonderful actress and while she overdoes the accent she clearly seems to be enjoying herself. If I had to ask myself what was the most painful bit about this movie? I'd say aside from the poor writing and the unnecessary 3D, it has to be the abysmally unfunny appearance of Dick and Dom.

All in all, a real disappointment. 3/10 Bethany Cox