I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This is How Movies Should Be Made

Perfectly adorable

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

String magnate Rudolf Smuntz (William Hickey) dies leaving his ancient factory and run-down mansion to his sons Lars (Lee Evans) and Ernie (Nathan Lane). Ernie loses his trendy restaurant after poisoning the mayor by serving food with a cockroach and reduced to being a fry cook. Lars rejects a large offer for the factory and his wife April (Vicki Lewis) throws him out of the house. The brothers go to the house and discover it to be built by famed architect LaRue. LaRue fanatic Alexander Falko (Maury Chaykin) is eager to buy but Ernie greedily arranges for an auction in a week's time. They are shocked when Falko indicates a value of as much as $10 million. They are hounded by an elusive mouse and Ernie intends not to repeat the cockroach incident. They use various methods including a cat named Catzilla and an exterminator named Caesar (Christopher Walken).This is simply not that funny. It's a sort of reverse Home Alone. It is following the Wet Bandits without Macaulay. I actually think this movie needs a cute animated mouse whom the audience can root for. It might be funnier from the viewpoint of the mouse. Ernie's motivation doesn't make much sense. It's a lot slapstick and destruction resulting in limited laughs. The movie could go full throttle Three Stooges but it doesn't have that childlike quality. They are too money grubbing for that. There is nothing particularly bad or hateful about this. It's just not that funny.

When their father dies, Ernie & Lars inherit an old house and the family string factory. Lars, the loyal son, refuses to sell the factory, which angers his wife so she kicks him out. Ernie, who runs a restaurant, is suddenly left with nothing when the mayor dies while eating there. With no other place to go, the brothers shack up at the old house, and then finding out the place is worth a fortune. They decide to fix up the place and sell it in an auction, but first, they have to get rid of a mouse living in the walls.......Proving that Gore Verbinski started out as a great director, and around 2002 sold himself to Disney, mouse hunt is a family film with a hideous dark side. Think the film as a hybrid between Home Alone and The People under the stairs, and it for the most part it works, but the supporting characters really spoil the broth.Walken and Hickey are brilliant, but they are just cameos, and apart from Jeter, all the other supporting characters are walking tropes. The money hungry wife, the rich fat buyers, and the stereotypical gangsters, just make the film feel less unique.Evans and Lane make a good pairing and their physical comedy usurps anything Harry and Marv got up to.The CGI looks a little bit ropes now, especially Catzilla, but it really adds to the silliness of it all.Its highly predictable stuff, you know the house will get destroyed, and you know that all will well come the end.Worth seeing, but don't expect anything groundbreaking.

I saw this movie as a child and the dark humor was awful for any kid. yes, a agree with the not parts were good. the thing that most got me was SHOWING THE CAT PUT TO SLEEP! I mean WTF why did they have to show that. that dis not fit the whole family friendly idea they were going for. Man that made me some mad as a kid. I know it happens but its not humor. This reminds me of sucker-punch and the whole ideal of lobotomy as good idea for entertainment.i mean what were they thinking in both films? where they like oh, that's fine leave it in it makes great since. The killing the cat or animal in many films makes me sick. If the animal has rabies then i can understand unless there is a cure. I hate the scene in The Boondock Saints were they shoot the cat an were like oh, crap. I mean that had not meaning or story development at all so why did they leave it in? Its not go humor and its just bad taste.

This movie came with the highest recommendation from my friend who insisted that I should watch it. I missed it when it was released and I was not too eager to see a family live/animated drama about two simpletons who want to get rid of the mouse in the house but in the traditions of Tom and Jerry or Home Alone always get outsmarted by a much smaller but smarter, quicker and unpredictably creative opponent. But hey, when someone whose opinion I respect tells me that it is one of the greats and I must keep my expectations high, I at least should check it out and see for myself. The fact that it is included in many viewers' Top 10 lists like BIG TIME SLEEPERS, Forgotten Gems, and Laugh-out-Loud actually added to my interest and anticipation. Besides, any movie with Christopher Walken doing what he does best - a crazed, creepy, and funny character, is a must see.So the story is simple - once there was a mouse, a very smart mouse that lived in an old mansion alone. One day, two brothers (rather losers) who inherited the house found out that it was a forgotten architectural masterpiece worth of millions. They wanted to sell, the mouse wanted to stay -thus the epic Mousehunt began. I am happy to report that I had a truly wonderful time watching the movie. It is darkly funny and creative. It combines live action and animation masterfully and seamlessly, and one hilarious scene runs after another without any pause culminating in the auction sequence that was made as an astounding mixture of slapstick comedy and disaster movie. Another favorite scene was at the animal shelter where Ernie (Nathan Lane) and Lars (Lee Evans) wanted to get the meanest scariest cat, "and preferably with a history of mental illness. I'm talking' one mean pussy", in short -not just a cat but Catzilla. Christopher Walken's exterminator who took his job very seriously by trying to get inside the mouse's mind and to think how the mouse thinks, delivered a delightful cameo. I also think that the movie benefits tremendously from its timeless look meaning that we don't know in what decade of the last century it takes place but that's exactly what makes it universal. It won't look outdated for many years from now.The film was a first feature for its director Gore Verbinski, who had stunned millions of TV-viewers in 1993 when he created now legendary Budweiser commercial featuring three croaking frogs, for which he was awarded the advertising Silver Lion at Cannes and also received four Clio Awards. Verbinski then delighted the whole world with three (well, he delighted this viewer - with two) films of Pirates of Caribbean. For some reasons, Mouse hunt received controversial and rather harsh reviews from the critics that accused the film of not been able to find a target audience and not creating any characters the public could identify with and root for. I believe it is a great film for the whole family, and it talks about serious mattes while entertains. I was fascinated by the clever inventive little mouse, and the movie kept my interest and child-like joy until the very end. Even the fact that the premise of the movie in not new or original did not make it any worse. Lane and Evans are very funny together, and the movie is a work of art from the enormously visually and sound talented director, his cast, and his production team.9/9.5