101 Dalmatians (1996) Critic Reviews

Director Stephen Herek does an admirable balancing job, though the movie slows whenever the animals solo onscreen. [27 Nov 1996 Pg.01.D]Read the full review

Where the film misses its biggest bet, however, is in depriving the animals of the voices they had in the animated version.Read the full review

Though this film's considerable warmth derives from dalmatian puppies and other animals who take charge of their fates, Close steals the show.Read the full review

What's funny in cartoons is not always funny in live action, and some of the dunkings in unsavory substances left me less than amused.Read the full review

Thanks to Glenn Close's delicious villainy, it succeeds in breathing archly theatrical life into the irresistibly monstrous Cruella DeVil. Otherwise, this remake goes to the dogs too often.Read the full review

Not much reason to see this one, because in 1961 Disney made an animated version called 101 Dalmatians, which is better.Read the full review

But when it comes to that great puppy pilgrimage, the movie, which was written and produced by John Hughes, falls astoundingly flat.Read the full review

Annoyingly, the movie is marred by anemic connecting scenes and a seeming disdain for something as simple as logicRead the full review

Fluffy and mild to the point of somnolence, it can't even get the full benefit of its strongest asset, Glenn Close's performance as the grasping virago Cruella DeVil.Read the full review