Movie Reviews

102 Dalmatians

26 Dec 2000

Emily Hunt is hidden in the credits of "102 Dalmatians", but she deserves special mention. Obviously, this movie follows "101 Dalmatians", Disney's "live-action" remake that actually won more fame for its animation than anything else, with scores of digitally choreographed puppies. This time the effects team is still working wonders, but if there was an Oscar for animal training, Hunt and her team (even lower in the credits) would certainly win.

As before, the canine stars do the hard work, while the less intelligent human characters take a back seat. The exception is Glenn Close, back as the wicked Cruella De Vil, the OTHER best thing about the previous movie, still overacting as a manic send-up of all the villains she has portrayed. In the early moments, Cruella is released from prison, reformed through heavy psychiatric treatment into a sweet dog-lover with a violent aversion to furs. The effect doesn't last, of course, and soon she is back to her old self, joining forces with an equally nasty furrier (Gerard Depardieu), in a plan to make herself a HOODED dalmatian coat. (Hence the extra dalmatian - look, they needed an excuse for one of the title change.)

Happily, this is more than simply a rehash of "101 Dalmatians", thanks partly to a new director (Kevin Lima, rather than the ubiquitous John Hughes) and new writers (led by Kristen Buckley and Brian Regan). Apart from Close, Tim McInerney is the only actor to return from the previous film, with his role (as Cruella's servant, Alonzo) expanded. Ioan Gruffudd and Alice Evans play the nice but somewhat ineffectual good guys. Not that it matters. Once again, Close steals the film from the other humans, and the only real competition from the animals is from a loud-mouthed parrot (voiced by Eric Idle), who thinks he's a rottweiller.

It all leads to a finale of violent slapstick. Cruella, of course, is given a suitably humiliating fate. Her punishment would be fatal in the real world, but at the session I attended, both kids and adults were in stitches. Even with all the animal training, and without so much computer animation, this is still not far removed from a cartoon.