102 Dalmatians

My take: Not as good as the first, but decent family fun nonetheless.

Yes we know, it's kid's stuff compared to the original, which is an enjoyable film, no less. This one follows where the original left off. Cruella "Ella" DeVille is kept in prison, and a group of scientist have altered her mind, turning her from evil to a good. Sadly, when the Big Ben rings its chimes, compassionate little Ella turns back to evil Cruella, with plots to capture more puppies for her "Poppy Coat" and for vengeance.

Of course, this one adds one more puppy to the 101 others. Sadly only one of the puppies from the first makes it here (of course, he's full-grown now), it's none other than Dipstick. Besides the dog, Cruella and her stuttering butler Alonzo (Tim McInnerny), no other character from the first film returns for this sequel. The plot, if you removed some elements, is basically similar to the first film. Making this a formulaic sequel, but let's not get to harsh in reviewing this. You got to admit it still has some entertainment value, despite the flaws. The puppies are cute, as always, and some of the laughs are well enjoyable for the kiddies.

So overall, not a brilliant flick, but a fun one for the family.

Rating: *** out of 5.

This was like my favorite movie when I was a kid! Cruella was my favorite Disney villain ever! There is no one better than Glenn Close to play this larger than life character!! I loved the over the top costumes, and Glenn's charisma and exuberance while playing the role! I liked all the actors, and thighs they did their job well with their role. Also, the movie is very entertaining for all ages, fun for the kids and teens and adults! Disney did a Great job in my opinion with this film! I feel like they did a good job with both 101 and 102 Dalmatians. Would've liked to maybe see roger and Anita again, but it's not like that was a heartbreaker. 7/10.

I saw the original "101 Dalmatians" 3 times while en route from England back home to the USA and I loved it. So when I saw there was a new dalmatians movie, "102 Dalmatians," I was elated and when I saw it, I was NOT disappointed. In fact, I liked this version even better than the first. Glenn Close's performance as "Ella" who has been imprisoned for 3 years for dognapping but who received behavioral modification but reverts to "Cruella" when Big Ben's chimes go off, is delightfully dastardly. And the performance by Gerard Depardieu as the loathsome LaPelt is extraordinary. But the best performances, the ones who "take the cake" are those by the Dalmatians, real or created, especially Oddball, the spotless dalmatian puppy who is obsessed with "S-P-O-T-S." The scene where she goes berserk when she sees a black and white sweater on a puppet in a Punch & Judy show is hilarious. There were scenes in which it looked like the puppies were in real danger but the magic lies in the fact that, when you read the credits, you realize those scenes were created; no puppy was ever in danger. I recommend this movie highly and I should; I've seen it at least 7 times and I also have the video.

I decided that this was going to be the first movie that I took my young daughter to see. Seeing as how she is a dog lover and is riveted to the TV screen every time she sees a commercial or TV show with a puppy, I figured how could I go wrong?

I was sadly disappointed. I found that the movie tried too hard to be dark and sinister....Cruella got way too much screen time and the puppies, too little. The movie just wasn't much fun. Amazingly, my daughter got an hour or so of entertainment from this film, and then got horribly bored. We ended up leaving before the movie was finished, so I'm not even sure how it ended.

The movie was cute, but it ran way too long for the younger set who have a reduced attention span. More time should have been devoted to the puppies and their antics, and less to Cruella and her scheming. I don't believe I was the only one who felt this way....as my daughter and I were leaving the theatre, I noticed two youngsters fast asleep. Not a good testimonial for a children's film.

Save this one for a video rental so your kids can fast forward through the boring bits before they, too, fall fast asleep.

Well, Disney has done it again. 102 Dalmatians is even better than the first. Once again, Glenn Close stars as the crazy, out of the box villain of villains, Cruella DeVil. She is totally awesome,and totally believeable as she makes her transition from almost sickly sweet to gleefully evil.

Alice Evans does a fantastic job as Cruella's stern, yet humorous probation officer who is less-than-thrilled about her new client. And Ioan Gruffudd is perfect as the slightly naive dog-lover who is torn between wanting to believe that Cruella has turned a new leaf, and being head-over-heels in love with her probation officer. Tim McInnerny makes a re-apperance as Cruella's flustered, frightened butler, but this time he gets to have a shining moment as he fights a bad guy, and helps to save the day.

The only person I had a problem with was Gereld Depardieu... don't get me wrong, he's a great actor, but honestly, I think this role was beneath him. LePelt is stupid and snibbering, practically in love with Cruella and his jokes (i.e. the tiger head on his pants in one scene) fall hopelessly flat. I think Mr. Depardieu should have demanded some intelligence put in this role... I can look past LePelt because Cruella and the others are so great, and the story line is charming, and the animals are once more, terrific. The addition of the talking Macaw really gave the movie an unexpected comic twist. I give it six stars.