My Movie Review on 102 Dalmatians (Plus, a Bonus) · 10:45am Sep 29th, 2023
Greetings and salutations, my friends.
This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "102 Dalmatians".
Here's the rundown of this sequel:
3 years after being sentenced to jail for stealing dalmatian puppies and trying to turn them into a fur coat, Cruella de Vil is released on probation following a successful hypnotherapy treatment. As a new and improved woman, and under the watchful eye of her parole officer, Chloe Simon, Cruella decides to rebuild her reputation as a fashion designer. She even goes so far as to buy the Second Chance Dog Shelter, which was owned by Kevin Shepherd and in a state of insolvency.
However, when Cruella's hypnotherapy state wears off and she reverts to her former personality, Cruella decides to enact revenge on dalmatians by upgrading her old fur coat design to require 102 dalmatians! And this time, she appears to have an advantage over how to accomplish her scheme unnoticed.
Meanwhile, Dipstick, one of the original dalmatian puppies who was stolen by Cruella, is under the care of Chloe. He is also the mate of a female dalmatian named Dottie, and becomes the father of three new puppies: Domino, Little Dipper, and an albino named Oddball, who's incredibly insecure about not having spots. Also, Chloe and Kevin appear to be growing an interesting connection between each other.
I'm sorry if the summary I made gave too much away regarding the story, but it was the best I could come up with. Besides, the film's plot is very straightforward, so I have a feeling people will know what to expect. My only hope is that it can at least encourage people to see how the aspects I mentioned happen, mainly on the grounds that the story was far from predictable.
Anyway...
After I did my review of the 1996 live-action adaption of "101 Dalmatians", I consistently made plans to give its sequel a critique since it was among the many I wanted to review at some point. As I said in my analysis of its predecessor, both movies were ones I grew up with. Although, "102 Dalmatians" was the only one I owned a physical copy of first, as it was among the many I had a VHS copy of at the time. A scenario that was similarly the case with "101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure" and some other Disney sequels I saw as a child.
Just like the previous movie, how I reacquainted myself with "102 Dalmatians" was by purchasing it on AppleTV, largely because finding a physical copy of the film was incredibly difficult. Other than that, I also took the time to watch this sequel twice, just to get my brain going and be certain over what I thought of it.
So, what do I think of "102 Dalmatians" after all these years? Especially after seeing it twice recently?
Well, I won't deny that this movie wasn't 100% perfect. It was mainly because of some minor visual errors I noted during my rewatch.
Among the many errors I discovered was that there were scenes featuring Waddlesworth the Red-and-Green Macaw talking despite his beak not moving. And in those moments, it seemed like they incorporated lines for Waddlesworth that were both last minute and unnecessary. An example comes from some parts featuring Kevin and Waddlesworth together as they're with Detective Armstrong.
Other than that, despite Oddball's eyes being brown most of the time, I also noticed that her eyes would be blue in some parts. It was clear to me that whoever was in charge of switching the puppies around likely didn't think it would matter whether or not the ones playing Oddball needed to always have brown eyes for consistency purposes.
Outside of these nitpicks, though, I thought that "102 Dalmatians" was still as fun as I remembered it being. Especially in terms of being a sequel.
For instance, the direction by Kevin Lima, the story by Kristen Buckley and Brian Regan, and the screenplay by them, Bob Tzudiker, and Noni White, were genuinely spot-on.
Despite the people behind this sequel being an entirely different team instead of Stephen Herek and John Hughes, Lima and his team of writers made this movie a faithful continuation of its predecessor, both in terms of continuity and spirit. The comedy may not have been as strong compared to the humor of the first movie, but all the gags were still hilarious to watch in their own right thanks to having a pure Disney innocence. The sequel also had a brilliant amount of emotion and heart, which was particularly generated by the developing romance between Chloe and Kevin, as well as the family bonds and friendships. Plus, regardless of whether things would seem predictable, I was consistently engaged and wanted to see where things would be going.
The special effects were spectacular, if I may add.
I don't know about you guys, but I thought the effects team did an astounding job making the puppies playing Oddball look like they didn't have any spots! When I recently learned that it was done by filming the character's shots first before digitally removing the spots, I was amazed. It literally didn't look like any digital manipulation was done! Plus, while I could tell that a computer-generated puppy was used for whenever Oddball was involved in slapstick moments or perilous situations, it worked quite well thanks to the effects team using this method sparingly and wisely. Also, I was astounded by the team's work in digitally-modifying Waddlesworth's mouth into going up and down whenever he talked, because it looked like the character was actually speaking like a person!
Additionally, the music by David Newman was magnificent.
Newman is definitely no Michael Kaman, but his score had a cinematic and emotional resonance that was strong enough to vibrate off one's heartstrings. He captured the spirit of the first film's score while making everything his own, and his material sounded exactly like the kind Kaman would make. As a plus, Oren Waters' "Digga Digga Dog" and Camara Kambon's rendition of "Cruella de Vil" were pure toe-tappers instantly worthy of being part of one's music app, which is largely thanks to each of them having catchy beats and enjoyable lyrics.
Finally, the performances of the cast, characters, and character development were fantastic.
Just like in the previous movie, the animal characters were a delight to watch. The dogs throughout this sequel had a charm & innocence that made them instantly enrapturing, and they showcased enough personality and emotion to be instantly three-dimensional. The best of them was definitely Oddball, I mean, how can anyone not fall in love with her?
Likewise, Waddlesworth the Macaw was a fabulous feather friend. He was funny, had heart, and he certainly wasn't without development. Even though Waddlesworth believed he was a dog much of the time, I thought it was nice that he eventually embraced his attributes as a bird when those he cared about were in danger. The vocal performance of Eric Idle was equally enjoyable, that's for sure. The way he translated Waddlesworth as sassy, sarcastic, and headstrong yet lovable regardless made Idle instantly perfect for the role.
As for the onscreen performances and human characters, they were all marvelous with a capital 'M'.
Reprising her role from the 1996 predecessor, Glenn Close was as spectacular as ever in her portrayal of Cruella de Vil. Some parts of this sequel may give the impression that Cruella isn't as intimidating compared to the first movie, but Close made every scene she was in work by demonstrating her flexibility. She maintained the spirit of her character while bringing something new, especially to accommodate the fact that Cruella was in jail since the events of the first film. The way she portrayed Cruella in both her pure-hearted and villainous states was particularly astonishing, because everything about the depiction felt so real; and when Cruella's hypnotherapy state was being undone, Close made something hauntingly-mesmerizing out of it. Cruella herself was still as well-developed and three-dimensional as before.
Similarly, Tim McInnery gave an excellent reprisal as Alonzo. Having more screen time and a larger role compared to the first film clearly allowed McInnery to make a greater impression as an actor, as well as further translate Alonzo as a three-dimensional human being. He took on the slapstick moments with gusto, and he portrayed Alonzo with a pure-hearted kind of quality that made me want to give him a hug. Alonzo himself had terrific character development, in that he grew from being a blindly-loyal pushover to someone who's willing to stand up for what's right.
The film's new human characters were wonderful too. Each of them brimmed with personality and development, and the performers portrayed their roles like they were born to take them on. Undeniably, the most well-developed and lovable of the new human characters were Kevin Shepherd and Chloe Simon. The growing romance between them encouraged Kevin and Chloe to develop in ways that I hardly expected, and the performances of Ioan Gruffudd as Kevin and Alice Evans as Chloe were marvelous.
In conclusion, "102 Dalmatians" may not be 100% perfect due to the flaws I mentioned at the beginning, but it's nevertheless a worthy successful of the original film from 1996. It's funny, has terrific characters and performances, everything.
So, I rate "102 Dalmatians" 4½ out of 5 stars.
Before I conclude this post, I'd like to share with you guys a paint-by-number I completed quite a while ago, from March 4, 2023 to May 20, 2023:
So, what do you guys think? Of this review? And the painting?
The ending to this film was EXCEPTIONALLY hilarious, especially with Cruella aaying "piece of cake":
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I agree.
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Out of curiosity..
Did you see my review of the 1996 predecessor? And what do you think of my painting?
I would say it was a pretty good movie actually at least live action Disney wise and Glenn Close really did an amazing job as Cruella de Vil like she really brings out her character so much
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She looks good enough to eat
Ah, 102 Dalmatians. I still remember that sequel, tough many at my country were surprised when the movie was announced due nobody - myself include - expected a sequel movie from the 1996 live-action.
It wasn't as great as the first one, yet it was entertaining to watch. 4/5.