Review - 102 Dalmatians (2000)

      Hey guys, Chuck here. It's no surprise that Disney's live-action remake of 101 Dalmatians, written and produced by John Hughes, was a massive hit for the studio, with massive praise going towards Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil. So, how does Disney capitalize on said success? With a sequel released in the year 2000, with only two of the stars from the first film returning, and no one from the creative team returning. This is 102 Dalmatians. 

      So, a few years have passed since Cruella de Vil was arrested for dognapping Dalmatian puppies, and she has been undergoing a radical new form of aversion therapy being conducted by a scientist named Dr. Ivan Pavlov. Apparently cured of her obsession with fur, the courts release Cruella, now preferring to go by Ella, on parole. But, with one condition: of she is ever caught dognapping again, she would go back to jail and all of her money would be donated to the local dog shelters in Westminster. And, I love how the judge humorously remarks "In other words, should you repeat your offense, your entire fortune will go to the dogs." 

      It's here where we meet Chloe Simon, Cruella's parole officer and an owner of Dalmatians: Dipstick, who was one of Pongo and Perdita's puppies from the first movie, and his mate Dottie, who has three puppies: Domino, Little Dipper, and Oddball. And, one running bit of this movie is that Oddball is the only puppy without her spots. Cruella sees an opportunity to prove she's turned over a new leaf by seeking employment at the Second Chance Dog Shelter, a shelter in Westminster run by a dog lover named Kevin Shepherd. The shelter is home to several dogs who have nowhere else to go, as well as an obnoxious talking parrot named Waddlesworth. And, as if by sheer coincidence, a guy named Ewan, who Chloe is ALSO the parole officer of, is working with Kevin at the shelter. 

      For the most part, it seems like Cruella's kinder nature is genuine, to where she even wants to protest against a famed French furrier named Jean-Pierre LePelt. But, something is discovered about Dr. Pavlov's aversion therapy: when his subjects hear a loud noise, such as the ringing of Big Ben, their personalities revert to their original nature. And sure enough, when Cruella hears the chimes of Big Ben, she is pure evil once again, and goes to team up with LePelt to make her spotted puppy coat, but with a hood this time, thus necessitating a total of one-hundred-and-two Dalmatian puppies. 

      Meanwhile, Chloe and Kevin go on a date, eating spaghetti at Tony's restaurant, while leaving the dogs from the shelter with Chloe's Dalmatians at Chloe's apartment, where the dogs all watch a VHS tape of Lady and the Tramp. And, of course, the signature song from Lady and the Tramp "Bella Notte" plays in the scene. At the restaurant, Kevin reveals to Chloe that he would receive Cruella's entire fortune if she's arrested for dognapping again, as his dog shelter is the only one currently operating in Westminster. Meanwhile, Cruella sends Alonzo, who turns out to be just as bumbling as Jasper and Horace were, but he is able to collect the Dalmatian puppies. And, unfortunately, Cruella frames Kevin for it, as he has a prior dognapping charge on his record. 

      Some time later, and Chloe and Dipstick are invited to a dinner party at Cruella's mansion, which is a diversion to allow LePelt to collect more Dalmatian puppies, and have them loaded onto the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express to be transported to his shop in Paris. Kevin, with help from Waddlesworth, escapes from jail and rejoins Chloe at her apartment, revealing to her that his dognapping charge was because he had broken animals out of a lab where they were being experimented on. 

      Kevin and Chloe get to the station, but the train has taken off. Luckily, Waddlesworth is finally able to fly (it's stupid, but the parrot thought he was a dog throughout the movie) and flies Oddball onto the train. Kevin and Chloe eventually make it to Paris, where Alonzo helps them defeat LePelt and free the Dalmatians, and Oddball manages to trick Cruella into a bakery, where Cruella is baked into a massive cake, and is arrested along with LePelt. And, why was Cruella baked into a cake? So that when LePelt asks about how to get out of their predicament, Cruella can respond "Piece of cake." Ugh. 

      Anyway, Alonzo arrives with a check for £8 million for Kevin and the shelter. Meanwhile, Oddball has gotten covered in some kind of black goo, but some of it won't wipe off. Meaning, Oddball finally has spots. 

        So, 102 Dalmatians is definitively an inferior follow-up to the live-action 101 Dalmatians. Now, much like the first film, Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil is easily the best part of the movie. And, while none of the dogs talk, having a single talking animal in the parrot Waddlesworth was really annoying, and Eric Idle really makes this character so annoying. In fact, every time Waddlesworth said something, I found myself exclaiming "Shut up, Bird!" at the screen. I will say that both Ioan Gruffudd as Kevin and Alice Evans as Chloe were both really good, and they actually had decent chemistry together. Tim McInnerny gets quite a bit more to do as Alonzo in this movie, but Gerard Depardieu was absolutely wasted as LePelt in this movie. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed LePelt as a character, but I feel that someone as talented as Gerard Depardieu deserves better material to work with. 

       Ultimately, the movie simply needed as much of the creative team for the previous film to make a sequel that doesn't rely solely on coincidence and dumb gags. I enjoyed this one as a kid, but I can honestly say that I prefer the first live-action 101 Dalmatians over this one. But, if you're at all curious, I guess give this one a watch on Disney+. 

      Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you in the next review.