102 Dalmatians

God bless Glenn Close. She really gives this Cruella De Vil thing her all. She brings such relish to the role of the rotten archvillainess that the only thing these 102 dogs need is a little dash of mustard. Sorry … the more obvious thing to say would have been that 102 Dalmatians is a dog of a movie, but that would have been unnecessarily harsh. Better to say that this movie is uninspired and bland, lacking in any interesting characters or plotting: It's a sequel to a remake of a feature-length cartoon. Basically, the film's narrative structure simply juxtaposes the cuteness of the puppies (and, damn, they're cute) with the dastardly flamboyance of Cruella De Vil. But instead of using this contrast in narrative textures as a building block for telling its story, 102 Dalmatians relies on it to perform all the project's heavy lifting. Most of the creative elements from 101 Dalmatians are absent from this go 'round. Only Close returns to reprise her role. But the original director, the Dalmatian-owning couple played by Jeff Daniels and Joely Richardson, the screenwriters, and even top dog Pongo -- all are gone from this current installment. Still, the story retreads the same basic plot of the fur-loving fetishist Cruella De Vil kidnapping Dalmatian puppies, which must then be rescued. Added to the mix is Dalmatian owner Chloe (Evans), who also happens to be the parole officer of Cruella (who, ever since her rehabilitation by Dr. Pavlov, prefers to be called Ella). A few other secondary characters make little impression, save for fur designer Jean Pierre Le Pelt, played by an outsized Gerard Depardieu in randy animal skin getups that look like some bizarre collision between Tarzan and Iron John. In fact, costume designer Anthony Powell's creations for Cruella and Le Pelt rank as the film's most creative inventions. Children may experience a bit of puppy love for the film's adorable pups and adults may find some pleasure in Close's costumes and listening to her trill on about her “hooded spotted puppy coat,” but overall, 102 Dalmatians is spotlessly dull.