101 Dalmatians (1996)

To me, this movie is perfection.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Prior to 1996, Stephen Herek had directed three of the most dissimilar movies: "Critters", "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Mr. Holland's Opus" (he also directed "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead", which I haven't seen). Therefore, it was a surprise to see him direct a live-action adaptation of "101 Dalmatians".Since we already know the plot, the movie itself isn't that much of a treat. Even so, you gotta love Glenn Close's over-the-top performance as the fur-obsessed Cruella DeVil. Close plays her more as a self-aggrandizing megalomaniac than an evil thug. The rest of the cast isn't as impressive in their performances, but we see some good people here. We all know Jeff Daniels. Joely Richardson is the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave; her sister Natasha married Liam Neeson but died in a skiing accident in 2009. Joan Plowright is a classically trained actress who was married to Laurence Olivier from 1961 until his death. Hugh Laurie is best known as TV's Dr. House. Mark Williams is now known as Ron Weasley's dad in the Harry Potter movies. Tim McInnerny is now known for the role of Lord Robett Glover on "Game of Thrones".It'll be an OK thing to let the tykes watch if you need to keep them entertained for a brief period. The "Home Alone"-style mishaps rained upon Jasper and Horace will hold their attention. I doubt that anyone else will enjoy it that much.

So... Disney thought they'd dip into the cash cow and try and rehash the already perfect with no need for modernization movie, 101 Dalmatians. Now with video games, fashion, and modern slapstick humor, this is a wonderfully terrible movie that seems to forget about the stylistic choices and just HOW the original worked. In the original, no one suspects Cruella of doing anything - Anita even states 'She may be eccentric, but she's not a thief.' One of Disney's more downplayed movies, the 1961 original featured wonderful characters, wonderful down to earth animation, wonderful backgrounds, and people you actually cared about. When the dogs go off- on their own - because nobody else saw the sings, it isn't a constant snooze fest of waiting for the off camera crew to have the REAL dogs do what they're supposed to do (in this way, Santa Buddies did it better) but it actually has, (because it was animated) the dogs TALKING. You understand what they want, what needs to happen - because they can speak their minds. Now, we have the police out to get the puppies as well - and Cruella, (whom Glen Close is a good match for) is played up even MORE to the extreme and completely unbelievable as a sane individual that no one would suspect. I enjoyed this movie as a child, but I can't get behind it now. It's too much, too silly, and the original did it right. Sorry.

I think this is one of those films from the 90s I saw as a kid, but when years have passed, I took one more view of this film again. Besides I knew it couldn't be possibly worse than the earlier movies that the late John Hughes made in the classic 90s.Boy was I wrong. Never have I been so disappointed in this mediocre remake, but I don't think it's the worst movie ever made. Let me point out the stronger points.The cast is pretty tolerable. Jeff Daniels and Joely Richardson did alright as Roger and Anite Dearly. Joan Plowright also did alright as Nanny. Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams did very good as Jasper and Horace, I think, but arguably the best performance throughout the entire film goes to Glenn Close who did such a compelling job as Cruella De Vil.The visuals are very amazing that looked exactly like the Disney cartoon and successful details the look of London, Roger and Anita's house and Cruella De Vil's mansion. Gotta give the director some credit for doing such a great job for visualizing them perfectly. That's it for my praise.The reason why I became so disappointed is because the screenplay was made by the late John Hughes who also wrote screenplays for such great films like the first two Home Alone films, the National Lampoon movies, Pretty in Pink, Breakfast Club and many more, but his career went downhill in the 90s when he wrote screenplays for such great disappointments like Dennis The Menace, Baby's Day Out, Just Visiting, the Miracle on 34th Street remake, and Flubber. In here, his screenplay has pathetically contrived dialogue and inconsistently unfunny humor that seemed too childish.The story is unbelievably predictable. It potentially has some great atmosphere in some of the scenes, but since this a remake of one of the greatest Disney films ever made, we all know what's gonna happen next and the second half becomes repetitive.If young kids want to see this mediocre remake of a Disney classic, be my guest, but only if they enjoy Glenn Close's performance. Otherwise, even that doesn't save this remake from it's incoherent plot and unfunny childish humor.4/10

I remember going and seeing this with my Kindergarden class when this came out and I must say I really enjoyed it. Glenn Close gave a wonderful performance as Cruella De Vil and I don't think that Disney could of casted a better actress. Joely Richardson and Jeff Daniels both gave good performances as Anita and Roger and I also thought that Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams gave good performances as Jasper and Horace. The plot was really good and seemed to live up to the original 1961 cartoon. I liked that they made Roger a video game designer and that he designed Cruella as the villain for his new video game at the end. There were lots of funny scenes from both the dogs and some other animals that appeared in the film. In all a good film that the whole family can enjoy and John Hughes did a good job writing the screenplay just like he did for some other of his films such as Home Alone. All in all 101 Dalmatians is a great family movie that anyone can love. 10 out of 10.