Dennis the Menace: Critic Reviews

Its unholy mixture of peppy sadism and pious, self-righteous sentiment comes straight from Hughes' crabbed cinematic heart.

Mr. Hughes and Mr. Castle try hard to re-create a kind of timeless, idealized comic-strip atmosphere, but except for the performances of Lea Thompson and Robert Stanton... nobody in the movie seems in touch with the nature of the comedy.

Beyond the booby traps and plentiful pranks, Dennis the Menace is truly a treat for all ages.

The comic has been condensed into a sweet-naturedly nutty motion picture with the buoyancy of a clutch of colored balloons.

Those good qualities are undermined, unfortunately, by the Switchblade Sam character, who is dirty, threatening and scary.

Very young children may find the numskull, by-the-numbers gags here amusing, but teens will consider this kids' stuff and adults will be pained.

Most children will get a kick out of it, although adults roped into accompanying their offspring may find themselves yearning to escape through the nearest exit.

John Hughes' vision of Dennis is much more menacing than Ketcham's fans and parents of small children might reasonably expect.

A smooth blend of sentiment and slapstick.

Someone ought to pay for this.

Why, oh dear lord, why?!?

How to turn an innocuous comic strip into an obnoxious movie.

But it's all far too flabby, with lengthy setups that seem to go on forever. Some judicious editing to tighten up the film could have made all the difference in the overall pacing.

A movie that makes you leave the theatre with thoughts of having yourself, and your neighbors, spayed is not a good thing.