Review of Horrid Henry: The Movie (2011) by Gina S — 09 Aug 2011

Pretty poor live-action version of the (already poor) kids' animated series.

Half the problem is that Horrid Henry just isn't horrid. If I recall correctly the only time he's especially badly behaved is at the start of the film & even that wouldn't warrant being sat on the naughty step in our house. The other half of the problem is the script. And the direction. And the acting.

Of course, this film is not aimed at me but at young children but my 5-year old son (who loves the TV series & pestered me to death to take him to see this) laughed just three times: twice for fart sounds & once when someone got covered in goo. And if you're an adult forced to sit through this don't expect any adult-level humour or wry observations as any form of compensation either.

There was one positive element in this film: the always-excellent Anjelica Huston. She was outstanding as Boudicea Battle-Axe & it was painfully (and embarrassingly) obvious that she was giving a great performance but in the wrong movie. Somewhere in an alternate universe there is a great kids movie missing a world-class supporting actress.