Cast: Glenn Close, Ioan Gruffudd, Alice Evans, Tim McInnerny, Gérard Depardieu
Director: Kevin Lima
Producer: Edward S. Feldman
Screenplay: Kristen Buckley & Brian Regan and Bob Tzudiker & Noni White
Cinematography: Adrian Biddle, Roger Pratt
Music: David Newman
U.S. Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
2000 has been the year of the creatively bankrupt sequel. Joining a list that already includes The Nutty Professor 2 and Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, 102 Dalmatians exists exclusively because its predecessor, 1996's live action 101 Dalmatians, made money. Disney took one look at their earlier film's box office receipts (in excess of $130 million) and decided to make a second installment, regardless of whether such an approach made sense or not. Considering that the average member of the movie's primary audience (children) is notoriously undiscriminating about his or her viewing habits, 102 Dalmatians will almost certainly turn a profit, but this poor excuse for entertainment is as pointless and offensive as Blair Witch 2.
When Stephen Herek (director) and John Hughes (screenwriter) collaborated to mug audiences with the 1996 movie, their intention was to take aspects of the animated classic and mix them with recycled Home Alone-type slapstick. The result was choppy, uneven, and painfully unfunny for anyone over the age of about seven. 101 Dalmatians was a joyless affair; watching it was enough to give viewers indigestion even if they saw it before a big holiday dinner. For 102 Dalmatians, Disney has elected to keep the cartoonish elements of the live action fiasco alive. The director, Kevin Lima, has two other features (A Goofy Movie, Tarzan) to his credit, both of which were animated. And Glenn Close, the only returning member of the first cast, is even more embarrassingly over-the-top than she was last time.
Actually, for anyone who saw 101 Dalmatians, there's no need to return to the theater for the sequel, since the plot is virtually the same. After being freed from prison, Cruella De Vil (Glenn Close) is once again out to make her spotted coat - although this time, because she has added a hood, she needs 102, not 101, Dalmatians. To help her, she has two associates, the kind-hearted Alonso (Tim McInnerny) and the bloodthirsty M. Le Pelt (Gérard Depardieu). These three bumble their way around trying to capture the requisite number of dogs. Meanwhile, Cruella's parole officer, Chloe (Alice Evans), the proud caretaker of three Dalmatians (including the spotless Oddball), is suspicious of her charge's activities, and begins to investigate. This leads her to Kevin (Ioan Gruffudd), the proprietor of the Second Chance Animal Shelter and the owner of several canines and a talkative parrot who sounds suspiciously like Eric Idle (too bad he's not playing the famous parrot from a Monty Python sketch). It's soon up to Chloe, Kevin, and a bunch of Dalmatians to stop Cruella.
It's as hard to imagine kids not liking this movie as it is to consider adults recognizing it as anything other than a waste of time. I suspect that even dog lovers over the age of seven will be disappointed - the animals aren't the main characters; they're personality-less background material. 102 Dalmatians is crass commercialism at its worst. It's neither funny nor interesting. In fact, with the possible exception of a few of the scenery-chomping sequences featuring French icon Gérard Depardieu (whose presence here is inexplicable), the movie doesn't offer anything in the way of passable entertainment. Close's Wicked Witch of the West impression is old hat (which is what she should wear - talk about a bad hair day...). Unlike most campy villains, she's not amusing - just tedious. Her slapstick activities, including being baked in a cake, inspires grimaces not guffaws. Meanwhile, cute Alice Evans and likable Ioan Gruffudd are stuck in the bland, thankless roles of the two-legged protagonists.
After the release of 101 Dalmatians, there was a sudden surge in families adopting the breed as pets. Within twelve months, this led to an unprecedented number of cases of Dalmatians being abused and put down. Disney, who bore the brunt of animal rights activists' ire, should be prepared for something similar, despite the inclusion of an end credits statement encouraging people not to adopt unless they're willing to invest the necessary effort. Given its placement, the disclaimer won't be seen by most parents, and, if it is, it won't be much of a counterweight against their childrens' pleading.
I rarely get angry with movies, even bad ones, but 102 Dalmatians is an exception. I'm annoyed because I lost 100 minutes of my life sitting through this movie. The only justifiable reason I can think of for anyone (who's not a critic) enduring Disney's latest travesty is that their kids have exhausted the current crop of family-oriented features (which includes How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Rugrats In Paris - both infinitely superior efforts). With his "funny" French accent, Depardieu calls the little Dalmatians "poopies" - and that represents a fine description of the film as a whole. Bow-wow.
© 2000 James Berardinelli