102 Dalmatians

Initial Thoughts

            When I watched the trailer I didn't think the movie was going to be that great (not a good sign). It seemed similar to the original, not too many new plot devices, and some plot holes. However, when I actually watched the movie, I was shocked to find out that they had changed almost nothing from the original. The acting was horrific, there was virtually no character development, and the sub storyline was totally pointless.

            Even though this movie on its own should be better than movies like Battleship or Ice Age 4, it truly hurts a lot more, because it’s based off of a classic children's film, the original 101 Dalmatians, that everyone knows and loves. Whenever you touch or change a classic film, you always run the risk, of angering your fans and confusing your fan base.   

Story/Plot: 9 out of 25

            The main storyline is an absolute mess. The storyline consistently jumps all over the place, from Cruella Deville to one of her minions, to Kevin and his GF, to the dogs, etc.

            In addition, the plot devices do nothing to help further or correct the storyline whatsoever. Many of the plot devices and plot twists come out of nowhere, without any sort of build up, which confuses the audience and takes away from the story.

            There is a sub storyline about Kevin and Chloe and how they fall in love, and their pets’ interactions with each other. This is completely pointless, and out of place as well, because we came here to watch a mad woman chase puppies, not to see to people fall in love. And even that is poorly done because the pacing is crap! Many scenes are way too short, and when they end it cuts to another sub storyline that has nothing to do, with Cruella or the puppies. In other words, half the time you will be scratching your head and will have no clue what is going on. 

            The first 30 to 45 minutes of the movie is completely inane. This is the time when everyone thinks that Cruella Deville has been cured. Why is it pointless? Because they show in the trailer that she turns evil again, this totally eliminates any possibly of a plot twist.

            Perhaps they were trying to add more elements by adding several sub storylines on the side, or perhaps they were trying to please more audience members; either way, it doesn't work.

Characters/Acting Quality: 9 out of 25

            Many, if not all of the characters are dangerously underdeveloped.  They are also stupid,  making tons of idiotic decisions (going over to Cruella Deville's house for supper??!! Didn't she try to kill your puppies in the animated film?). Add that to the fact that the characters have not a single original bone in their bodies, and that they have not matured or grown in any way in since the last film, or since the classic animated films.  

            The acting quality is definitely below average, specifically Cruella Deville. Glenn Close does a horrible job portraying the villain, and believe me, there are a ton of reasons outside of the fact that she overacts every scene. I know Cruella Deville is meant to be overacted so the audience sees what a mad woman she is, but Close does this very badly and isn’t at all believable in the role of Miss Deville.

Villain (Cruella Deville): 2 out of 25

            In the original animated film, the villain was amazing; she didn't care about anything but getting the fur. I mean nothing could stop her. Road blocks, police cars, even when her car was being ripped to pieces by something, she would just step on the gas and continue her terrifying pursuit of the puppies.

            In this film, she always goes out of her way to make sure the people still believe that she's cured, which makes no sense given the characters’ past experiences. In addition, for the first 30 minutes of the movie, she is "cured", which makes her nice to everyone, and not want puppy fur. This plot point alone pretty much destroys the character for most viewers, especially those who grew up watching her in the animated film.

           

            Also she is too clean, and seems too calm most of the time, even after she turns back to her regular self. Even though this character has been in a live film before, she still started in an animated film, which is where both of these live films should be getting their research. The original Cruella Deville was crazy, with blood shot eyes, and was always smoking a huge green cigar. They could have edited it to make her look at least a little ugly and gruesome. (And the excuse that they couldn't because they didn't have the technology is false as Disney's Dinosaur came out the same year, and had amazing SGI.

Writing: 13 out of 25

            I have already covered most of the writing, so I will just recap.

            The writing is lazy and barely has any original concepts; almost all of the story elements are stolen from previous films, and anything new they add is confusing and comes out of nowhere.

            There is one aspect of the movie which doesn't make any sense either. Where are the 102 Dalmatians? All throughout most of the movie, we see maybe 5 until the very end when 100 other puppies randomly appear without any explanation as to who owns them, where they came from, or how they got there.

            However, outside of that, the overall writing of the movie feels generic and also has a very similar atmosphere and feel of the previous films.

           

Final Verdict

33/100

Bad

This movie should never have been made. A very confusing and lazy storyline, crappy characters, and the insulting attempt to recreate Cruella Deville, is truly disappointing. The only thing that stops this movie from being any worse is the generic overall writing style of the movie, which it ripped off from the previous ones. When it’s hard to duplicate a movie, don't duplicate the movie. It is very difficult to remake a film with such basic yet impressive elements such as the original 101 Dalmatians. When you try to add more stuff to a basic and classic film, you will screw up the pacing, which in turn will affect pretty much everything else in the movie.

This sorry attempt at a sequel is the single reason why we haven't heard anything about a 103 Dalmatians in the last 13 years.