Mousehunt
DreamWorks Distribution | Release Date: December 19, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
EmpireGiala Murray
Lane as the greedy schemer and the timid, gangly Evans make a good slapstick team, with great support from a cast of larger-than-life characters including Walken as the exterminator who approaches his task with military precision and outrageous hardware. Read full review
80
VarietyJoe Leydon
Mouse Hunt is the cat's meow. Blending the graceful slapstick of Laurel and Hardy with the mock-Gothic visuals of "The Adams Family," this often screamingly funny comedy about a resilient rodent has enough across-the-board appeal to click with audiences of all ages. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Absolutely one-hundred-percent ridiculous, this is comedy of a higher order, and more maniacally inspired than almost anything released in years. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Far better than you'd expect. Despite its intelligence-insulting premise, Mouse Hunt is a well-crafted, surprisingly smart film that benefits tremendously from the winning chemistry between Lane and talented newcomer Evans. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJack Mathews
A virtual replay of the original "Home Alone." It's darker, meaner, sillier, more scatological, and, in rare moments, funnier. Read full review
70
Washington PostJohn Kelly
A wonderful movie: inspired, hilarious, visually inventive. Just don't take your kids to see it. Read full review
63
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
Wacked-out and warped. [19 December 1997, p. 3D]
63
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
The biggest factor working against Mouse Hunt may be its chilliness. Like some of the Coen brothers' work, it's so stylized that it often keeps you at an arm's length instead of sucking you into its whirlwind. Read full review
60
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
As the family film least insulting to its audience's intelligence this season, Mouse Hunt has its share of grown-up appeal along with mouse mischief guaranteed to have children giggling. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The charms of Evans (from 1995's oddball Funny Bones) and Lane (who's at his best playing to the balcony) are lost in all the detailed hubbub. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
If you're a five-year-old, or the mental equivalent thereof, and love Saturday morning cartoons, the more violent the better, then Mouse Hunt may just be the movie for you. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
MouseHunt is "'Home Alone" with a rodent in the place of Macaulay Culkin. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Stack
Mouse Hunt is inane, antic cinema in the extreme. But even if half the gags don't quite work, the other half are inspired. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerWalter Addiego
Lane, with his extensive stage experience, is acerbic, profoundly cynical and endlessly disgruntled. As the foil, Evans strike the right comic nice-guy note; he has fun with the character's sweetness and refuses to degrade him. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Aa bit too familiar an American tail. [19 December 1997, p. 82]
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Not very funny, and maybe couldn't have been very funny no matter what, because the pieces for comedy are not in place. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
This desperately all-ages movie just emphasizes its banality by throwing money and effort into effects and production design at the expense of pacing. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Unnecessary profanity for PG, a little slow for grown-ups, but good for laughs and promoting sibling peace. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyPaul Malcolm
The movie's real charms lie in its surprisingly dark atmosphere and its almost subversive sense of humor. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Granted, the film is a technical marvel: The many chases through rooms, under floors and behind walls -- including one very scary encounter with a nail-gun -- are all done to jaw-dropping, state-of-the-art perfection. Read full review
10
Film ThreatJeannie Stein
Just plain bad. Read full review
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