Disney dips into their library of animated films and produces a one hundred minute advertisement for Dalmatian merchandise. Glenn Close delivers a perfect performance as Cruella DeVil. She’s portrayed as the fashion-designing boss of Anita (Joely Richardson). Roger (Jeff Daniels) owns a Dalmatian, like Anita, but he struggles as a video game designer—living in London, which is apparently a hub for video game design. Anita and Roger meet in an overly sentimental way, and their dogs Pongo (his) and Perdy (hers) become enamored with each other too. Following this, Anita and Roger get married, and then have a baby. Pongo and Perdy also marry and start a family. Poor Perdy gives birth to fifteen puppies, under the watchful eye of Joan Plowright, who plays Nanny. Cruella reappears and offers to purchase the puppies. Inspired by one of Anita's designs, she intends to create a large fur coat from them; she and her assistants have been gathering puppies, and these last fifteen will complete her project. Anita and Roger refuse to sell. The puppies are then stolen by henchmen Jasper (Hugh Laurie) and Horace (Mark Williams), who look identical to their animated counterparts in the earlier Disney film. The extended ending is a drawn-out rescue sequence where the puppies receive assistance from other animals as they try to escape, with Cruella, her helpers, and a deranged taxidermist named Skinner (John Shrapnel) pursuing them. Screenwriter John Hughes repeats his "Home Alone" formula of having adult men injured by cute animals so frequently that I honestly thought I was watching an unofficial sequel. Director Stephen Herek is not Chris Columbus, however. While Columbus is generally capable as a director, Herek seems unsure of what he should be filming to elicit laughter from the audience. The scene where Anita and Roger meet after crashing their bikes because of their dogs runs on far too long and is stretched out for all it’s worth. The editing isn't precise; Herek switches between multiple cameras and focuses on extreme close-ups of “funny business” instead of simply allowing the actors to be amusing. Daniels and Richardson are lost in the mix, failing to make any lasting impact. Glenn Close is well-suited for her role, with impressive costumes and hair, but she seems constrained as well. The filmmakers can’t decide whether their intended audience is young children or their exhausted parents. Some of the dialogue is quite harsh, such as the villains' plans regarding the puppies, though this is balanced by overly sweetening many scenes, including the finale. There are also a few clips from other Disney movies included, but these don't seem like an inside joke so much as free promotion for additional Disney videos. Ultimately, "101 Dalmatians" doesn’t live up to its potential. Close nearly manages to break free from the limitations of marketing-driven mediocrity, but the true loser is the audience. The puppies are undeniably cute, though.

Source on TMDB