Review : Horrid Henry - The Movie

HORRID HENRY : THE MOVIE! 
Horrid Henry finds himself doing things he never ever thought he could do, and more. When is school is in danger of shutting down, he gangs up with Moody Margaret and the Purple Hand Gang to come up with a plan to save the school!

Now, overall public consensus who have seen this, will convey that this film isn't very good. I would be inclined to agree with that. I do like Horrid Henry. I think Francesca Simon does a terrific job with the books and those books are brought to life as wonderful audio plays, read by Miranda Richardson. But really? A live action film, with real actors? Really? I actually had objection to watch this because I couldn't bare watching it, hating it and having my books ruined. 

So you have the main character; in this instance it's Henry, a prankster and trouble making boy who hates school, has ambitions and dreams of becoming a rock star, and revels in stinky, scatological "boy humor." Families who are averse to fart and booger jokes I would advise that you'd want to stand clear from approaching this, but otherwise the only thing objectionable is the number of insults that are hurled in the film.

My main bed bug with the film is just how diabolically cringy it is, I mean you just look at it and don't believe what you're watching, it's so over the top, and tries to stick to the books as much as possible and there are some nice sensitive and humorous moments in the film which compliment the books well, but most of the time, it's cringe worthy and very easy viewing. I don't feel challenged by watching it. One thing I will say is the child actor 'Theo Stevenson' who played Henry was really good. I thought he was well cast and he has the devilishness and the mischief about him which matches Henry in the books.

While wildly popular in Great Britain, Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry books haven't found the same kind of success across the pond. Most American audiences, therefore, won't have the built-in familiarity that they have with, say, the Ramona or Wimpy Kid stories. Maybe it's better that way. Perhaps if Henry was a character dear to someone's heart, the feature film would deserve one less down a mark.

Henry is your standard Dennis the Menace problematic class clown. But Stevenson's portrayal of Henry is so over the top as is every aspect of this production that it seems better suited for a TV special than a full-length film. 

Poor Richard E Grant, a good actor presented with a part that my own dad could of played. It's one thing getting par'd off by a bunch of children, and another to do all the rest of the ridiculous comical stuff he had to do. It's just painful to watch.

In short, the film may be good in connecting with child audiences, but for my tastes this film just isn't designed for me. It's a ridiculous waste of money which could of been used creating something much more worth while. 3/10!

NEXT: Disney's Dumbo.