Everyone knows Hank Ketcham's comic strip, Dennis the Menace. Well now, they've done a movie based on the comic strip (and I'm not talking about that 60's movie). This movie makes the comic strip look bad.

Dennis (Mason Gamble) is an innocent, well-meaning, curious and cute 5-year old. On his tricycle he drives over to his neighbor, Mr. Wilson's (Walter Matthau) house. Mr. Wilson already had a few bad experiences with Dennis, that's why he is pretending to be asleep. Dennis thinks that Mr. Wilson is very sick, so Dennis takes an Aspirin, loads his slingshot with the Aspirin, and shoots it down Mr. Wilson's throat. Angry and frustrated, Mr. Wilson chases Dennis home.

When Dennis gets home, his mom, Alice (Lea Thompson) starts working (something other than a housewife). Dennis's best friend Joey (Kellen Hathaway) is supposed to come over to his house. However, they were both dropped off at their very much-hated enemy, Margaret (Amy Sakasitz). They hate Margaret so much because she makes them sing songs, do puppet shows, and play with dolls. And whenever they disobey, she runs to her mommy, and complains.

Both Dennis's parents are now working. They both need to make a trip to another state. They went through the whole town list, and asked everybody to babysit Dennis, and everybody thought that it was a joke (because every babysitter Dennis ever had, he made them go crazy). There was one name left: Mr. and Mrs. Wilson (Joan Plowright). They agreed to babysit Dennis (after all the trouble he caused Mr. Wilson...).

The next day, Mr. Wilson was having his big ceremony to celebrate "gardener of the year". That night, many guests came. Mr. Wilson made Dennis sit near the garage. But Dennis's curiosity got him into another bundle of trouble. He saw a button, so he just had to press it. He pressed it. The garage door opened, and the table with all the fancy food flipped over. That's when Mr. Wilson's blood started boiling. He couldn't take it anymore. So he scared Dennis into running away.

Dennis didn't know where he was going; he ended up driving through the forest, and right into the hands of the villain Switchblade Sam (Christopher Lloyd). Of course, with Dennis's innocent looks, Sam thought he knew what to expect. When Sam got to know Dennis a little better, he wasn't what he turned out to be. With his slingshot, Dennis shot Sam in the head with a rock. Then he hit Sam's head with a heavy piece of wood. He even set Sam on fire, so Sam had to jump into a lake. And for the grand finale, Dennis tied him so that when the train passes by, it would take Sam with it. When the train passed by, it carried Sam to the ceiling of the hideaway, when the train passed, he fell onto a piece of wood that was floating in the lake. And to finish all that off, his knife fell into his butt.

The next morning, Dennis brings Sam in his tricycle, with Sam all beaten up. The police arrive and sees Sam; pretty pathetic. A grown up criminal, couldn't overcome a 5-year-old kid.

Mr. Wilson learned his lesson: from kids, expect the unexpected.

Dennis the Menace is great movie. It's great fun for the whole family. There's no swearing, no inappropriate phrases.
I highly recommend it.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8