Psycho's Movie Reviews #38: Horrid Henry: The Movie (2011)

Horrid Henry: The Movie is a 2011 British children's adventure, comedy film, directed by Nick Moore and produced by Allan Niblo, Rupert Preston, Mike Watts and Lucinda Whiteley, who wrote it. In the film, Henry and the Purple Hand Gang fight to prevent the closure of their school by an evil private school headmaster. It is based on the fictional character Horrid Henry from the children's book series of the same name by Francesca Simon. The film itself acts as a prequel to Series 3 of the TV Series.

Horrid Henry: The Movie stars Theo Stevenson, Richard E. Grant, Parminder Nagra, Kimberley Walsh, Mathew Horne, Siobhan Hayes, Dick and Dom, Noel Fielding, Jo Brand and Anjelica Huston. It was the first British film for children to be shot in 3D, and was officially released in cinemas on 29 July 2011 in 2D, Real 3D, and 3D formats by Vertigo Films in the United Kingdom.

Phase 4 Films and Entertainment One released the film in theatres in the United States and Canada on 22 December 2012. The film was panned by critics, but grossed $10.1 million worldwide. Horrid Henry: The Movie was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 28 November 2011 in the United Kingdom. Horrid Henry: The Movie has sold over 750,000 DVD copies in the UK.

Horrid Henry: The Movie aired on Nicktoons in October 2019. The film had a share of 9.2% and ranked number 1 in its time slot. The film has 4.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon Prime.

Plot:

Horrid Henry uses his magnetic yoyo to steal cookies from Moody Margaret's Secret Club. Before he can eat them, his mother tells him to do his homework. The next morning, Henry searches for his homework, only to find that after he left it on the dining room table, the other members of the household variously spilled milk on it, stepped on it, and squashed it into the couch, leaving it a mess.

He leaves it behind and has his friend Brainy Brian forge a note from his mother saying his cat ate it. His teacher, Miss Battle-Axe, realizes that this note is forged and that Henry did not do it himself, since Brian spelled "homework" correctly, something Henry is incapable of doing. With Henry in detention, his friends join him to practice for a talent contest. Miss Oddbod, the headteacher, and a pair of school inspectors walk in on their rehearsal.

Vic Van Wrinkle, headteacher of the exorbitantly expensive Brick House School, has been bribing the school inspectors to put pressure on Ashton Primary, the school Henry attends, in order to justify closing the school. Van Wrinkle stands to make a fortune from the resulting influx of pupils. Horrid Henry and Moody Margaret's misbehavior prompts Miss Oddbod to fire Miss Battle-Axe and Miss Lovely for failing to enforce discipline, and the school inspectors encourage Henry's pranks.

With Ashton Primary on the brink of closing, Henry's Great Aunt Greta volunteers to put up the money to transfer Henry to an all girls school (since she thinks Henry is a girl) and his younger brother Peter to Brick House. Miss Lovely gets a job at Brick House, where she notices the school inspectors. Peter distracts the staff and pupils by performing numerous arrangements of "Frère Jacques" so that Miss Lovely can spy on Van Wrinkle and the inspectors. She is caught by Van Wrinkle, but covertly passes notes about his plan to Peter.

Meanwhile, Henry's new schoolmates immediately realize he is a boy and begin hunting him. Margaret, who has also been transferred to the school, comes to Henry's aid, and the two escape. The traumatic experience motivates them to work together to save Ashton Primary. Henry decides to win the talent contest with his Zero Zombies band, hoping that this will make them famous enough that they won't shut the school down.

After the band wins the contest, Miss Oddbod informs Henry that fame is irrelevant in this case. Henry is later invited to a game show known as 2 Cool 4 School, with the intention of using the prize money to bribe the school inspectors to leave Ashton Primary alone. In the final round of the competition, he is confronted with Miss Battle-Axe, who challenges him to spell "homework." Recalling Miss Battle-Axe's early admonitions and using "Oh Henry, you horrid boy" as a mnemonic device, he correctly spells "homework" with two "o"s for the first time.

Meanwhile, Peter and his friends try to rescue Miss Lovely, but are captured by Van Wrinkle. Miss Lovely tricks him into explaining his plan while Peter has her mobile phone call the school so that Miss Oddbod can hear. Miss Oddbod calls the police and Van Wrinkle attempts to escape, but falls over due to Peter tying his shoelaces together and is later arrested. Henry returns and offers the cash prize to Miss Oddbod, who declines it and explains that the school has already been saved. At Margaret's suggestion, the money is instead used for a large party.

Release/Reception/Box Office:

Horrid Henry: The Movie was theatrically released on 29 July 2011, in the U.K. by Vertigo Films. It was later released on DVD and Blu-ray on 28 November, that same year, in the United Kingdom.

The film opened at #5 in the box office in the United Kingdom with £1.3 million, in a Top 10 led by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 and Captain America: The First Avenger. It was knocked down the next week to #7, by Super 8 and Mr. Popper's Penguins.

The film received generally negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 9% of 22 reviews for Horrid Henry: The Movie are positive; the average rating is 3.60/10. Common criticisms included the unfunny, juvenile humour, stuttering plot, and unimaginative use of stereoscopy. The bright colour palette was widely praised, but generally said to be wasted, given the overall low quality of the film.

Leslie Felperin of Variety stated: 'Thinly scripted, even for a kidpic, but luridly coloured enough to keep even nap needing tots (or parents) awake, this sophomore effort by Brit Helmer Nick Moore (Wild Child) reps something of a waste of its impressive roster of supporting thespian talent, while its use of 3D is likewise less than imaginative.'

Derek Adams offered the film mild praise in Time Out: "Horrid Henry is indelibly flawed and disorderly in tone but not devoid of rambunctious charm". When interviewed on Desert Island Discs by Kirsty Young, Horrid Henry book author Francesca Simon stated: 'I haven't seen it (the film)...I had nothing to do with it.'

Box Office value; £10.1 million

Sequel:

Horrid Henry: The Movie was theatrically released on 29 July 2011, in the U.K. by Vertigo Films. It was later released on DVD and Blu-ray on 28 November, that same year, in the United Kingdom.

My Review:

OMG, you would not believe that all these big actors/stars are in this, neither did I the first time I watched this - It kinda makes the movie better honestly. Especially Richard E Grant... like HOW? Why was there such a big budget for this film?

I mean it's not a bad film, it really really good. Extremely accurate to the source material. Honestly everything about his film is a perfect adaptation; the cast were perfect they portrayed the characters really well/half of them looked the part as well {which was probably the point}.

There's way too many famous British stars in this film so I'm only going to mention the two in which I thought did the best performances;

1) Angelica Huston as Miss Battle-Axe; just wow, I'm speechless. She embodied Boudicca's sharp, eccentric attitude. Heck, she even sounded like her. It's clear someone did their homework!

2) Richard E Grant as Van Wrinkle (the Villain). OMG... How did they manage to get Richard Grant to star in this film like WHAAAAA??? To be fair he is the best character in this film {not just because he's the badguy (I mean who else would play the badguy?)}. He's proper into the role, which is amazing. The fact that such a high praised, most popular actor was even a part of this film, and accepted the absurd plot is unreal.

I tell you what though I was really took off-guard seeing Dick and Dom in this film - even if it was for a scene. Don't get m wrong they were really weird when they were popular on CBBC, but they really raised the bar for their parts {From what I remember I was really creeped out by them (Mainly from one of their past tv shows; they had a few, specifically one called Hoopla which was a carnival themed one, they really gave me Hoopla vibes - that show was terrifying)}.

This movie is just amazing ! I am a big fan of horrid Henry and I watch all the series and I have read all the books. For a teenager this movie will surely be the best ! But I think that for an adult this movie won't be interesting. Strongly recommend the film 🎥: 8/10!

I'm happy now though, because my nephew loves this film so I've got an excuse to watch it :)