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101 Dalmatians II - Patch's London Adventure

101 Dalmatians II - Patch's London Adventure

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Truly well done sequel!
Review: This movie is a step above most Disney sequels. It actually captures the look and feel of the original, and expands greatly on the humor. Clever dialogue, cute puppies, and a lightening fast pace make this one of the few Disney sequels that can stand up to its original. Recommended for kids and their parents!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Truly well done sequel!
Review: This movie is a step above most Disney sequels. It actually captures the look and feel of the original, and expands greatly on the humor. Clever dialogue, cute puppies, great new characters, and a lightning fast pace make this one of the few Disney sequels that can stand up to the original. Recommended for kids and their parents!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Ya gotta love Lars and Lightning.
Review: This movie managed to kick some serious [backs] despite the inevitable attitude most viewers, myself included, must have taken to it on the first showing: "Ugh, another pathetic Disney sequel to disappoint the original?!"

Not so. Charming and entertaining is "Patch's London Adventure." I fell in love with poor Lil Lightning, the Welsh corgi sidekick of the big ham of a shepherd star, Thunderbolt. And, of course, the eccentric but kind abstract artist, Lars...the only possible love interest for Cruella, although in the end he turns away from her evil ways and she's sent off to a mental institute! A great movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best sequal Disney has turned out in years!
Review: Though it doesn't live up to the original classic (how could it, to be honest?), "101 Dalmatians II," I must say, is very good. It isn't the typical trash Disney produces when they want to make a few bucks by throwing together a careless "part 2" in a short time span. And yes, it is *not* three mini-stories mashed together! They literally made one 70-minute, coherent movie! It starts out by giving us a taste of some actually decent animation; the scenery really looks like it did in the first movie! Is it a miracle?
The storyline gets a bit weak at some points, but overall it's cute, funny, and at times even bizarre enough to keep everybody interested. Oh, did I say funny? I meant hilarious. The jokes never stop! This movie is really, really funny. I mean that. I laughed the whole way through it. Other sequals, like "Return to Never Land," "Scamp's Adventure," and the practically unmentionable "Tarzan and Jane," almost put me to sleep. This one was truly amusing. No wonder the critics were shocked into giving it some great reviews!
Sure, it is a lot more 'modern.' They've made the humor more present-day. But no, there still aren't any gross jokes involving gas or anything like that. It's still the story of a proper family of dals living in jolly old England--except they're moving to the 'dalmatian plantation' and out of London. That's one of the good things about this movie--Pongo and Perdy aren't overly dramatic. They're the same way they were in the first movie. What I mean is, in the other sequals, Tramp and Ariel disappointed us by losing their independent spirit just because they had kids. Pongo and Perdita, of course, already had them in the first one, but it's refreshing not to see them get ruined in the second. There were a lot of funny things in this movie. For instance--"Wholesome Tommy," the kid from Thunderbolt's TV show. Certain things are predictable--how many times has a young un' been disappointed to find that their TV star heroes aren't all they're cracked up to be? Yeah, that's what happens with Patch and Thunderbolt--but there are other twists to the story and other characters to make it more interesting. Take Lightning, the devious but adorable Welsh corgi who's Thunderbolt's sidekick. He wants to take over the show. Horace and Jasper make their triumphant return--or not. Cruella forces Jasper to dress in drag to carry out one of her pup-stealing plots. There's Lars, the eccentric (but not sicko) artist who paints spots and, for whatever ungodly reason, falls in love with Cruella--yick. Anyway, he tries to please her by painting excellent things, which I enjoy, but she wants him to kill the puppies and use them as canvases (how demented do you get?), which he adamantly refuses to do.
Some unforgettable elements are still there too--the Twilight Bark for instance. The original members of the infamous Barking Chain are not seen, however; you know, Jock and Lady and Peg and Bull from "Lady and the Tramp," the poodle, the afghan, etc. There are all new dogs here. Except we see Jock at Thunderbolt's auditions. We also see an old dog who won't stop howling. He's funny. A trio of ooh-ing and ah-ing little girl dogs is there too, looking for Thunderbolt...we only see two of them later, still talking about him...it makes one suspect that maybe the third one will end up liking Lightning, who is overlooked at first, but ends up as a 'bad guy' of sorts for trying to foil Thunder's rescue plans. The afghan from the first movie is in the crowd of ladies surrounding Thunder's trailer. Interesting to compare. But anyway...

Overall this movie was remarkably funny and well-made for a Disney sequal. This should have come out in theaters instead of Peter Pan 2, in my opinion. I expected very little and was surprised to get a quite acceptable film. Oh, and the credits hold an extra treat: the "Baduns" open a boutique (hardy har), where they 'prefer to sell manmade materials.' Roger goes gold; Thunderbolt returns to his show--not killed off; Lars is discovered as an artistic genius. MMMMM...OAK. Good stuff.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Sequel Surprise
Review: When I first saw the previews for this, I groaned. I was totally thinking it would be a huge flop and a silly movie, then I watched it. It was very cute! It had a heart warming storyline, our favorite familiar characters, and even some new ones to liven up the story. I was so excited even though he is a bad guy that Disney put a Welsh Corgi in this movie because they are my most favorite dog. The only thing I have to say about this movie that's negative is that I miss Mr. Tibbs from the first movie.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Original is better
Review: You just can't beat the original. The original flowed, this one doesn't. In the original Pongo was a dad that was looked up to and he was a hero, in this one Pongo is a dad looked down on . Thunderbolt has to "find himself", with all the emotional conflict of whether or not he wants to be a real hero or not is too much for a kid to enjoy, much less the adult having to watch this nonsense. Stick to the original.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Original is better
Review: You just can't beat the original. The original flowed, this one doesn't. In the original Pongo was a dad that was looked up to and he was a hero, in this one Pongo is a dad looked down on . Thunderbolt has to "find himself", with all the emotional conflict of whether or not he wants to be a real hero or not is too much for a kid to enjoy, much less the adult having to watch this nonsense. Stick to the original.


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