Dogs Vs. De Vil Cute Dogs, Sweet Romance, Wicked Villain Make ‘101 Dalmatians’ A High-Spirited Romp

It’s spotty, but the live-action remake of “101 Dalmatians” is worth seeing.

Even if you’re a diehard fan of the original and you think a remake is an outrage, you have to admit that real Dalmatian puppies are 101 times more adorable than animated ones.

They are the stars here - they’re given all the best close-ups - and they come through, especially in a scene that recreates a touching moment from the original when lead Dalmatians Pongo and Perdy have 15 puppies, one of whom is apparently stillborn. Bring Kleenex.

“101 Dalmatians” recreates lots of moments from the original, although don’t go looking for the dogs-who-look-like-their-owners bit or the Twilight Bark. The first hour of the movie has the elegant high spirits of the animated movie down cold, particularly in the relationship between Pongo and Perdy owners Jeff Daniels and Joely Richardson (who looks exactly like her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, circa “Camelot”). There’s a sweetly funny scene in which Daniels and Pongo stand outside neighboring obstetrician and vet offices, waiting for the natal news.

As Cruella De Vil, Glenn Close obviously knows that the De Vil is in the details. Close moves like a drunk vulture, and her honeyed, pear-shaped vowels are so deliciously cruel that it’s easy to imagine her fashioning 101 puppy skins into a kicky cape-and-skirt outfit herself (“I love the smell of near-extinction,” she howls).

With a full lower lip and a thin, avaricious upper, Close acts like a combo of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Bracknell and that crazy fashion woman, Polly Mellen, whose bizarro pronouncements on style were a highlight of last year’s “Unzipped.” Close doesn’t try to tone Cruella down - she knows Cruella is funny because she is so awful.

After the first hour, though, “101 Dalmatians” slinks into the doghouse. The movie was produced by John Hughes, who did the “Home Alone” movies and countless subsequent knock-offs, and the Hughes sledgehammer touch becomes evident in “101’s” final 30 minutes, which play like one of Marv Albert’s sports-blooper reels: people sinking into mud puddles and getting smashed in the face with anvils.

Inevitably, “101” becomes a movie about bad guys getting kicked in the gonads.

That stuff is repetitious and boring, especially if you’ve seen other films de Hughes such as “Baby’s Day Out” and “Dutch,” but it can’t erase the goodwill the movie has already established.

It doesn’t give you any thrills you can’t get from the animated original, so the remake is unnecessary. But, then, so is eating just one more potato chip, and I do that all the time.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “101 Dalmatians” Location: North Division and East Sprague Cinemas Credits: Directed by Stephen Herek, starring Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson Running time: 1:43 Rating: G