Isn't being six years old GREAT? You can burn down someone's house, break their wrist, sprain their neck, poison them with cookies, get them arrested for something you did... And STILL come out smelling of roses. At least, that seems to be The Moral Of The Story here. Why, this kid causes more trouble in one Christmas than his namesake from The Beano (no connection BTW) has in his entire 70 year career. And get this... He does it all WITH THE BEST OF INTENTIONS and WITH NO MALICE WHATSOEVER.
He didn't mean to let the turkey out so it could cause havoc and ruin the Xmas play... he was only giving it water. He didn't mean to knock down the entire display at a local department store... he was simply trying to remove some sticky decoration from a lady's posterior. And he didn't mean to destroy Mr Wilson's expensive stamp collection... he only thought the dude had a lot of letters that needed mailing. Yet, despite all of this being admittedly innocent shenanagins, the fact still remains... the kid is a troublemaker on an epic scale. It doesn't matter if he does it intentionally or not... he should come with a health warning. Particularly around his neighbour poor old Mr Wilson.
That's the whole problem here. We're SUPPOSED to feel contempt for this ogreish crank as he tells Dennis off and wants to avoid the little tearaway like the plague. Then, get an attack of the warm fuzzies as Wilson realises 'the error of this ways' later on, by ripping up the IOU for 45000 dollars that Dennis's family owes him due to the situations their miscreant had perpetuated and joining the neighbours for mulled wine and mince pies. But, guess what... I found myself 100% on the side of the alleged Bad Guy.
All he wants is a quiet life. He's worked hard, he's retired... he wants to enjoy his paper and stamp collection in peace. But his selfish, blinkered wife keeps inviting Dennis round for visits... She ignores her husbands insistence he doesn't want anything to with the kid, and disaster never being far behind when the jinx turns up. Despite all the pain and misery this little terror inflicts on her better half over the course of the movie, she STILL allows him open access to commit further atrocities on her beloved till the end. The lady is a moron. A good ending would be: Mr Wilson packing his bags, and leaving his dumb wife and the tiny hellion next door, and enjoying his retirement in the Bahamas.
But, nope... Mr Wilson gets a visit from an angel, who reminds him that as a boy he was very much like Dennis is now. And...? That still doesn't excuse the chaos piling up in the present. I bet Wilson was never a walking calamity on the scale of that tyke, anyway. Then, in scenes that aren't a rip-off at all from It's A Wonderful Life, we see Dennis's parents saying they'll have to sell their house... to pay for the damages caused by their errant kid. And Dennis having a tearful soliloquy about how Christmas stinks because Mr Wilson is angry at him. Finally, a vision of the future where Mr Wilson is all alone because of his bad attitude.
So, let me get this straight... You let your child run off unsupervised... create arson and discord wherever he goes... and somehow, the main victim of all his anarchy (Like I said, whether intentional or not) is somehow painted as in the wrong?! Have I caught the bus to Crazytown? Mr Wilson is upset because his property is destroyed, he's ended up in the hospital TWICE and a collection he spent YEARS amassing has gone for good. What's he supposed to do? JUMP for joy? Yet somehow, in the illogical, insane world of this film... He's seen as a horrible Scrooge for getting a bit cranky at the brat who caused it all.
What a load. Especially the part at the end where he APOLOGISES to the family responsible for his torture. And, get this... the last joke of the film shows Dennis running over Wilson on his brand new bike... So the 'cycle' (ha ha) will continue. But because Dennis is a cutie with dimples and a smile as wide as the ocean, and doesn't MEAN bad stuff to happen, it excuses all sins... right? Try telling that to a court when you kill the poor old fella. Which WILL happen one of these days, mark my words...3/10
He didn't mean to let the turkey out so it could cause havoc and ruin the Xmas play... he was only giving it water. He didn't mean to knock down the entire display at a local department store... he was simply trying to remove some sticky decoration from a lady's posterior. And he didn't mean to destroy Mr Wilson's expensive stamp collection... he only thought the dude had a lot of letters that needed mailing. Yet, despite all of this being admittedly innocent shenanagins, the fact still remains... the kid is a troublemaker on an epic scale. It doesn't matter if he does it intentionally or not... he should come with a health warning. Particularly around his neighbour poor old Mr Wilson.
That's the whole problem here. We're SUPPOSED to feel contempt for this ogreish crank as he tells Dennis off and wants to avoid the little tearaway like the plague. Then, get an attack of the warm fuzzies as Wilson realises 'the error of this ways' later on, by ripping up the IOU for 45000 dollars that Dennis's family owes him due to the situations their miscreant had perpetuated and joining the neighbours for mulled wine and mince pies. But, guess what... I found myself 100% on the side of the alleged Bad Guy.
All he wants is a quiet life. He's worked hard, he's retired... he wants to enjoy his paper and stamp collection in peace. But his selfish, blinkered wife keeps inviting Dennis round for visits... She ignores her husbands insistence he doesn't want anything to with the kid, and disaster never being far behind when the jinx turns up. Despite all the pain and misery this little terror inflicts on her better half over the course of the movie, she STILL allows him open access to commit further atrocities on her beloved till the end. The lady is a moron. A good ending would be: Mr Wilson packing his bags, and leaving his dumb wife and the tiny hellion next door, and enjoying his retirement in the Bahamas.
But, nope... Mr Wilson gets a visit from an angel, who reminds him that as a boy he was very much like Dennis is now. And...? That still doesn't excuse the chaos piling up in the present. I bet Wilson was never a walking calamity on the scale of that tyke, anyway. Then, in scenes that aren't a rip-off at all from It's A Wonderful Life, we see Dennis's parents saying they'll have to sell their house... to pay for the damages caused by their errant kid. And Dennis having a tearful soliloquy about how Christmas stinks because Mr Wilson is angry at him. Finally, a vision of the future where Mr Wilson is all alone because of his bad attitude.
So, let me get this straight... You let your child run off unsupervised... create arson and discord wherever he goes... and somehow, the main victim of all his anarchy (Like I said, whether intentional or not) is somehow painted as in the wrong?! Have I caught the bus to Crazytown? Mr Wilson is upset because his property is destroyed, he's ended up in the hospital TWICE and a collection he spent YEARS amassing has gone for good. What's he supposed to do? JUMP for joy? Yet somehow, in the illogical, insane world of this film... He's seen as a horrible Scrooge for getting a bit cranky at the brat who caused it all.
What a load. Especially the part at the end where he APOLOGISES to the family responsible for his torture. And, get this... the last joke of the film shows Dennis running over Wilson on his brand new bike... So the 'cycle' (ha ha) will continue. But because Dennis is a cutie with dimples and a smile as wide as the ocean, and doesn't MEAN bad stuff to happen, it excuses all sins... right? Try telling that to a court when you kill the poor old fella. Which WILL happen one of these days, mark my words...3/10