"102 Dalmatians" & "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"
I just had some major minor surgery and I was in need of some entertainment and distraction from my own personal plight. Opportunity reared its furry head for me with a Saturday morning screening of Disney's sequel "102 Dalmatians." What better way to get my mind off of my own aches and pains than watching Glenn Close bring new outrageous behavior to my favorite villain of all time - Cruella De Vil. I ensconce myself in a comfortable seat and settled down with the other kids in the audience to see Cruella, once again, foiled in her nefarious plans to create the ultimate spotted puppy coat.
The holiday release of "102 Dalmatians" comes as no surprise following the $300-million plus worldwide gross for the 1996 live action remake of the 1961 seminal Disney animation, "101 Dalmatians." The focus of the new film is on Cruella De Vil right from the start as we meet the penitent psychiatric patient who has learned to love animals, not wear them. But, we know something is going to wrong, drastically wrong, and the wicked Cruella will turn to her old, evil ways. This time, it's up to the spotless little Dalmatian Oddball and the rest of the canine crew to put a stop to Cruella's latest, wicked plans.
When Cruella leaves the psychiatric care of Doctor Pavlov (David Horovitch) she is fully cured of her infamous fur fetish and the terms of her parole dictate that she never steal another puppy. If she violates the rules of her release, her remaining wealth, 8-million pounds, will be given to the dog shelters in the county. But, Cruella has become "Ella" and is a changed woman who dedicates her life to the safety and well being of the canine population. She selects a failing, ramshackle animal shelter, The 2nd Chance, run by kindly naïf Kevin Shephard (Ioan Gruffudd), as her rehabilitation project and throws herself into her philanthropic work. Kevin honestly believes that Ella is a changed person and lets her fund the shelter's rebuild. Not so for Ella's doubtful parole officer Chloe Simon (Alice Evans), a Dalmatian owner herself, who doesn't think that a leopard like Cruella can ever really change her spots.
Chloe is proven right when the striking of the bells of Big Ben toll the end of Dr. Pavlov's experiment as Ella disappears and Cruella De Vil reemerges in all her wicked glory. She is now bound and determined to get her precious spotted coat and even enlists the help of her arch rival in the fur world, Jean Pierre Le Pelt (Gerard Depardieu), to collect the 102 Dalmatian puppies she'll need to create her ultimate design - now with hood. Kevin and Chloe are pretty helpless in stopping Cruella with Kevin being framed and arrested for the theft of some of the pups, so it's up to Chloe's canine companions, Dipstick (son of Pongo), his mate, Dottie, and their puppies, Little Dipper, Domino and Oddball, to foil Cruella's cruel plans. Oddball is the only spotless one in the clan, which makes him the over-achiever needed to lead the puppies and the other canine colleagues against Cruella and her lethal scheme.
One area where "102 Dalmatians" misses the mark is its audience aim. There is far too much talky dialogue and adult level humor and too little stuff for the smaller kids. Don't get me wrong, the puppy (or "poopy" as Le Pelt calls them) action is fun and exciting, especially the big climax/chase that enters an enormous automated bakery that proves to be Cruella's downfall. But, there isn't enough of this kiddy-level action. You could hear the noise level increase in the theater as the smaller kids got bored with the plot hatching between Cruella and the fur-clad Le Pelt. Not giving the younger kids something to occupy their attention is going to be very annoying at full theaters where the adults won't be able to hear the higher brow humor because of the din of the youngsters.
The humor is, overall, more geared to the adults and older kids in the audience. There is a dark, sinister nature to the film in the second half, culminating in Cruella being thrust into an oven a la the wicked witch in the "Hansel and Gretel" fairytale that provides some disturbing images. The mayhem is only implied and never realized through the film, but the idea of a just dessert ending for Cruella borders on the scary, especially for younger auds.
While the animal stars don't speak (with one notable exception that I'll get to in a moment), the filmmakers still get some remarkable performances out of the canine cast. Mom and Dad Dalmatians, Dipstick and Dottie, are shown as a loving couple who adore their kids. The human-like spin that is put on their interaction has the same anthropomorphic feel as Disney's animation, "Lady and the Tramp." (The spaghetti scene from the older animation is used to propel the love story between the good guys, Kevin and Chloe.) My favorite animal "performance," though, is voiced by Eric Idle as the neurotic Macaw, Waddlesworth. The parrot, it seems, believes that he is, in fact, a dog and not a bird at all. His neurosis, coupled with sharp-tongued, witty dialog, makes the very vocal bird an odd but endearing member of the team. Even when Waddlesworth does fly like an eagle, he declares, "I'm not a rottweiler, I'm a retriever." He steals the show whenever he gets a word in.
The human actors don't fare quite as well as their furry and feathered counterparts, though. Except for Glenn Close, who has a remarkably good time and gives her all to the character of Cruella - the actress does much of her stunt work in the big climax - the other humans aren't given much to do. Depardieu's Le Pelt must have looked good on paper, but the big actor just seems out of place. Gruffudd and Evans, as Kevin and Chloe are there, well, because the script says the characters exist. Neither actor is given a real character to work with and there isn't much the amiable-seeming thesps can do to reverse this. Tim McInnerny, as Cruella's manservant Alonso, is the only other human, besides Close, who gets to put any meat on his character's bones. Alonso suffers from conflicted loyalty as he is faithful to his employer but also has a good heart and is against the plot to create the "hooded spotted poopy coat."
Costuming by Academy Award winner Anthony Powell is a major asset for the film. Cruella is outfitted in some of the most bizarre and interesting creations since Queen Whatsherface in "The Phantom Menace." From the very start, when we meet her, fully rehabbed, in her striped prison togs with the jaunty cap emblazoned with her prisoner number, "6660," we are seeing a tour de force in costumes. Most interesting are the "Ella" outfits as the reformed Cruella shuns furs and takes on a clever political correctness. (I was even told that one outfit is in a houndstooth pattern - hee hee.) Ella is a true matron of her cause and looks every bit the lacquered lady - check out her "nun's habit" outfit she wears as she emerges from prison. It's brilliant. Her change back into Cruella literally springs out at us as it harks back to the 1996 film with fur taking over, once again, as the principle material du costume. The fur motif doesn't work anywhere near as well for Gerard Depardieu, who looks more like a well-groomed bear in the furry costumes for Le Pelt.
Everything around the action - the aforementioned costumes, the innovative sets by Assheton Gorton and the sparkling photography by veteran lenser Adrian Biddle - help keep the production on an even and high quality keel. First time live action helmer Kevin Lima, who so able handled the Disney film "Tarzan," utilizes his animation skills to bring the necessary cartoon quality that marked the original as a hallmark family film. The weakest point is the script by a gaggle of writers - Kristen Buckley & Brian Regan (from their original story) and Bob Tzudiker & Noni White - which has to follow up on the charm of the original story by Dodie Smith. The scribes do a fair job, but the story feels like it's done by committee. The ending drags on too long so the whole effort seems more extended than its 90+ minutes.
The puppies are cute and Cruella remains an icon of wickedness, but I hope that "102 Dalmatians" is it. I don't think I can take "103 Dalmatians." I give it a B-.
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