Dennis the Menace is a good film. I love how they show the film being set in the 50's. However you can see that not everything fits in to the decade setting such as the automobiles used in the film.Mr. Wilson the curmudgeonly next door neighbor of the Miller's can't seem too tolerate their young child named Dennis. Wilson sees Dennis as a pest always trying to cause trouble. At some point the Miller's have to both go on business trips forcing them to try and find a babysitter for Dennis. Unfortunately they can't find anybody willing to watch him because of his troublesome manner. Well who's left on the list other than the Wilson's.Understandably Mr. Wilson isn't thrilled at the prospect of looking after him but his lovely wife Martha does not mind at all and is delighted to look after Dennis. Mr. Wilson puts up with Dennis and his antics for awhile but after Mr. Wilson's house is robbed by Switchblade Sam and his debut of his plant that is about to bloom gets ruined when Dennis tells Mr. Wilson his house has been robbed and Mr. Wilson doesn't believe him at first and tells him that he never wants to see him again. Dennis rides away on his bike and gets captured by Sam but he of course saves the day later on and comes back home.The characters in Dennis the Menace are thought out well. However I would have to disagree that Switchblade Sam would look like a total creep and be a thief. This is of course silly as any normal looking person can do bad things. Of course it is a movie and I suppose that he does look very intimidating in the town of clean looking folks.Dennis the Menace may not be for everybody but I think that it stays true to the comic and it is an enjoyable laugh out loud film. This is a good movie and isn't over the top with slapstick and should have most people with a funny bone laughing out of their seat.

In 1959, a character named Dennis the Menace was made into a comic strip cartoon. Now, it is adapted by film. Dennis the Menace stars Mason Gamble as the troubled kid who keeps bothering his next-door neighbor, Mr. Wilson, played by Walter Matthau. The movie center around the neighborhood where Dennis engages in mean-spirited pranks that even injured Mr. Wilson. Lea Thompson plays Dennis' mother. She said that Dennis is out of school and on summer vacation. But, why in the world would a brat like Dennis would even be out of school when he was mean to Mr. Wilson? I don't know, but the background is not quite right. Another character is Switchblade Sam, played by Christopher Lloyd. Now, his character is menacing as Dennis. Why? Well, to put it in one way, Switchblade Sam is a probably an escaped convict or a killer. His character is not right for this movie. Especially in a kids movie. As for Mason Gamble, he is an annoying little kid, who I think has no respect for Matthau's character. In one scene, Wilson plans to have a party over his house, and the flower he was growing was blooming when the moon was out. Suddenly, Dennis pop out of the house to say that Wilson's house is robbed by Switchblade Sam. It seems that somebody must have pick Mason Gamble by mistake. This movie deserves a 2 star rating. ★★ 2 stars.

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.

Based on the comic strip by hank Ketchum, John Hughes and Nick castle bring the characters of Mr. Wilson and Dennis to the big screen. The movie starts off as Mr. Wilson stepping out onto his porch, getting the newspaper and all of a sudden he hears rattling sounds and figures out a little someone is riding his bike back and a jumpy Mr. Wilson turns around in fear and storms in the house and he hears the loud yell of MR. Wilson by Dennis and the mischievous little 5 year old walks into Mr. Wilson's house and, thinking Mr. Wilson is sick and asleep, shoves an aspirin down Mr. Wilson's throat with his handy little slingshot and for the viewers it was just the beginning of a series of gags and accidental slapstick to the long suffering Mr. Wilson. Also in the movie are other characters from the comic strip who are brought to life including Dennis's hard working parents Alice and Henry Mitchell, The sweet and total opposite of Mr. Wilson, Mrs. Wilson, and Joey and Margaret who build a tree house with Dennis. The plot really begins when Dennis's parents both have to go out on business trips and call a list of babysitters who won't and can't handle Dennis so they turn to the Wilson's and Mrs. Wilson seems thrilled of the idea of Dennis staying the night, but for the lovable grump Mr. Wilson is a night of hell as Dennis messes with all kinds of chemicals in the bathroom and Mr. Wilson ends up drinking toilet Cleansure instead of mouthwash and uses mouthwash as nasal spray. Meanwhile A creepy and sinister looking thief who goes by the name of Switchblade Sam is stealing anything that appeals to him whether it's an apple from a little innocent kid or gold coins from Mr. Wilson's coin collection. The next night after Mr. Wilson yells at Dennis in frustration for unintentionally wrecking his garden party, Dennis rides on his bike and storms into town and into the scary woods where he runs into switchblade Sam. Next is a home alone stylish scene in where the robber wants to take Dennis hostage but he soon finds out that a night with Dennis is not a night of peace. In these scenes we see the petty thief in Mr. Wilson's spot for a night and we see gags and slapstick similar to home alone in which we see the bad guy set on fire and hit on the head a few times. Meanwhile Mr. Wilson, who is upset and feeling guilty about that he said to Dennis, goes around town to look for the little boy and the whole neighborhood also try to find him. The next morning Mr. Wilson wakes up from sleeping on the porch and hears the rattling sounds again but this time he waits in happiness to see Dennis riding back with a bloody and bruised Switchblade Sam who goes to prison and the movie has one big happy ending. I had first viewed this classic when it first came out in 1993 and I was 5 myself just like Dennis. The acting and story are not bad and I enjoyed watching these lovable characters brought to life. All the actors are great including the late Walter Mathau who played the grump with a good heart Mr. Wilson, Mason gamble as a harmless troublesome boy named Dennis, Joan Plowright as the sweet and caring Mrs. Wilson, Lea Thompson and Robert Stanton as Dennis's loving but strict parents and Christopher Lloyd as the real menace of the movie Switchblade Sam. All the characters in this movie are good but I'm one of the few people who liked the villain the best and he was one of the characters that was not in the comic. I'll have to admit that maybe the movie could have done without a villain and maybe he wasn't important to the film but I thought he was an entertaining character and he added to the fun of this movie and to me, without him, I don't think this movie would have been the same. I'm just one of those people that thinks that all movies should have a villain. All in all I give this movie a 9/10 I would have gave it 10/10 but I could have done without the scene where switchblade Sam almost kills Dennis I know they wanted to make him look sadistic but they could have did it in a more light hearted way oh well he's still my favorite character mainly because I just love christopher lloyd anyway to those who have somehow missed this movie in their childhood I recommend it.