It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

When his parents have to go out of town, Dennis stays with Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. The little menace is driving Mr. Wilson crazy, but Dennis is just trying to be helpful. Even to the thief who's arrived in town. I don't get why 'Dennis the Menace' is so low rated here on IMDb i mean i freaking love this film especially Walter Matthau and Mason Gamble had such a great chemistry together as Mr. Wilson and Dennis plus Christopher Lloyd was hilarious as the villain especially his "demise" in the end was just hysterical. Definitely a great 90's movie. (10/10)

I know a lot of people bash this movie, and it is nothing special, but we thought it was a charming and (at least occasionally) very funny movie to "waste" an hour and a half on. I didn't even know John Hughes did this one until I visited this page! But I'm not surprised because, like many of John Hughes's other movies, this big screen adaptation of Dennis the Menace is funny, well written and on top of that it also has a lot of "heart" to boot.Christopher Lloyd being in the movie was a nice surprise and he does a very good job as the comic criminal foil to Dennis. I felt bad for him even while laughing at his pain. (He is basically like the wet bandits characters from the Home Alone series Hughes also did, though the first Home Alone is better than this.) Walter Matthau is fantastic as always in the role of a bitter, sourpuss type of old man neighbour, who Dennis is always annoying and damaging the property of.It's predictable and not very serious but there are lots of good family friendly laughs with a good story and performances, and it hits the spot.It even has a big, stinky flower!

This is the film adaptation of Hank Ketcham's comic strip of the same title. In most cases, film adaptations of comic strips or TV shows simply suck, but with this one not only they did a pretty good job but also made something much better than what it's based on.Dennis is much more likable in this film than in the cartoons. But, before saying more on this, let me say that the cast was very well thought and selected. The actor chosen to portray Dennis's father, for example, looks exactly like the character from the comic strip. It's as if he was the human version of that character. And he is very well on his role. Pretty Lea Thompson does well as Dennis's mother, in a much better role than "Lorraine" from 'Back to the Future' trilogy. Hank Johnston is excellent as Gunther Beckman. Walter Matthau... well, they couldn't have chosen a better Mr. Wilson than him! Joan Plowright is just as good as Mrs. Wilson and Mason Gamble steals the show as Dennis Mitchell.Mason Gamble is unbelievably cute. The title suggests that Dennis is a menace. To a point he is, but without meaning to. Dennis is absolutely adorable, loving, sweet, very nice to everyone and innocent. He does many mistakes and often annoys people (particularly the cranky Mr. Wilson), but he doesn't do for bad. He isn't a mean-spirited child, unlike the sadistic kid from those stupid 'Problem Child' movies. Plus, Dennis is really funny and at times so dramatic that he becomes even more hilarious.The character Margaret Wade is simply annoying. No wonder that Dennis and his friend Joey dislike to be with her. I mean, with a girl like that, can you blame them? Another character I have no sympathy for is Andrea, co-worker of Dennis's mother. What Dennis does to her at the end (even though innocently) is deserved, seriously. Mrs. Wilson is a very nice old lady and she's very good to Dennis - she actually treats him as a son (or a grandson).Walter Matthau is, like I said, the best Mr. Wilson ever. And his facial expressions are priceless! He's hilarious, even though he is a grumpy old man, sometimes highly apathetic. For example, the part when he says to Gunther «Gunther, I'm just talking to your daddy on the telephone. He's going to the ice cream store. He wants to take you with him. Hurry up and go home!»... that's kinda mean of him. Imagine the disappointment of the kid when he gets home. But even meaner than that is when he says (despicably) that Gunther is a foot short for his age and cross-eyed. Plus, later in the movie he says some very nasty things to Dennis. Devin Ratray ("Buzz" from the first 2 'Home Alone' films) has a minor role as Mickey, the boyfriend of Polly (one of Dennis's babysitters). Christopher Lloyd stars as Switchblade Sam, a bandit, but he isn't a likable character. He's filthy, mean and looks sinister, maybe too much sinister, does not fit well in the general nature of this comedy/family movie. Hank Johnston's role as Gunther is minor. Too bad, really. I wish he had a bigger role in the film. Yet it is surprising how, despite his minor role, very brief appearances and almost no dialogs, he manages to be hilarious. Gunther is, just as much as Dennis, unbelievably cute, sweet, loving, innocent and completely adorable. Yet there is something about him that makes him funny. Maybe it's his facial expressions which are innocent and hilarious at the same time - and his crossed-eyes also make him funny, as well as when he says "a apple" instead of "an apple" and when he waves goodbye to the burglar in the end. There are many hilarious moments and lines in the movie. Classic humor, the kind of humor that can cause you some good laughters. There's plenty of them I could mention, but then I wouldn't finish writing this.

Dennis the menace, as the last word points it out right away, is a menacing movie.It is supposed to be for kids, but I remember that I was pretty scared of the movie and I thought that Dennis was just an utter crazy boy, scary in his way. I know that he is kind of supposed to be scary for adults, but as a kid I couldn't really identify myself with anybody in the movie; you're not really involved.Furthermore, a lot of the cuts are directed in a way to submit horror, but in a gentle way. That is like showing us a dangerous car accident but underlining it with cheery music. Something is awfully wrong, it does not feel right. Kids will be frightened by the villain, Mr. Wilson, the girl with the dolls and by the way the director Nick Castle brought the ideas to the screen (only Mrs Wilson is a charming, nice person). This movie simply is not for kids.You might think then this is for adults, for moms and dads, to watch with their children... nnnnno. You see, the problem is that, while you actually are capable of feeling of how much Dennis is a menace for retired men, you never really think that he's an interesting kid; he's very naive, over the top naive which is basically it.The movie then is not for children, nor their parents or anybody else. Especially not for teenagers, nowadays they watch films like Matrix at the age of thirteen. The result is that this movie is probably for no one.4/10