102 Dalmatians (G, 2000)

In 101 Dalmatians, all-time great movie villain Cruella De Vil (Glenn Close) is sent to jail for dog-napping with the intention of making the dalmatian puppies into a fur coat. As the sequel begins, Cruella has been rehabilitated through the experimental efforts of a behavioral scientist. Now she wants to be known simply as "Ella," a friend to all animals. When she is released from prison, she's immediately assigned to a sweet parole officer named Chloe (Alice Evans), who just happens to own a family of dalmatians. Ella tosses away all her furs and takes over the "Second Chance" dog sanctuary, run by the adorable Kevin (Ioan Gruffudd). But "Ella's" rehabilitation, it turns out, can be reversed by Big Ben, the chimes of London's famous clock tower. In just a few gongs she is back to Cruella and her old passion for a dalmatian puppy coat, only this time she wants it with a hood, requiring one more puppy than her original 101 figure. With the help of fashion fur designer Monsier LePelt (Gerard Depardieu) and her loyal henchman Alonzo, they capture the puppies, making it look as though Kevin took them, and take off for Paris, followed by Chloe, Kevin, and their assorted animals, including a parrot who thinks he's a dog.

This sequel is better than the first live-action version, though still not as good as the original animated classic. Other than Cruella, the human characters are bland. And in the live-action versions, the dogs don't talk so they're harder to connect to as characters. That leaves us with not much more than a plot that is already very familiar (Cruella takes dogs, dogs get rescued) along with a great villain, cute puppies, and sensational costumes. Although there are some sweet moments and a satisfyingly silly comeuppance for Cruella, the movie is slow going -- in fact, the credit sequence is livelier than the movie itself. In a particularly poor choice, there is a scene in which the dogs watch a video of Lady and the Tramp, enjoying the "Bella Note" scene while Chloe and Kevin, out on a date, share a plate of spaghetti. It may be intended to induce nostalgia and a sense of connection, but what it induces instead is regret that we're watching this movie instead of that one.

Kids may find parts of the movie confusing, like the brief scenes with "Dr. Pavlov," who explains that he has cured Cruella with behavior modification, and her subsequent relapse, triggered by a clock chime. One of the dalmatian puppies has no spots, and is named "Oddball." As we expect, she feels bad about being different and then proves her worth. But this mild little message is undercut by having her then develop spots as a part of the happy ending.