Dennis the Menace Strikes Again

About the best that can be said about this produced-for-video sequel to the John Hughes comedy is that John Hughes had nothing to do with it, and Betty White makes a sweet Mrs. Wilson. Justin Cooper, who played Jim Carrey's kid in Liar, Liar, is an insufferable Dennis, wreaking so much laboriously set-up havoc that one comes away convinced he is indeed the Antichrist. Poor Don Rickles, in for Walter Matthau, is the long-suffering Mr. Wilson, who in addition to the abuse heaped upon him by Dennis, is the unwitting target of con-men Brian Doyle-Murray and Carrot Top. Cheap, yes, but at any price, the nadir of family programming. Not recommended. (K. Lee Benson)