Let me say this out of the gate... I didn’t have a burning desire to see another live-action ‘re-imagining’ of one of Disney’s animated classics.
A little over two years ago, I reviewed Disney’s live-action remake of “Dumbo,” and described it as “a pretty big yawn.”
I’ll admit I haven’t seen all of the recent “House of Mouse” remakes (I’m told that 2019’s “Aladdin” reboot is worthwhile, and have added it to my Disney+ queue).
It was with some trepidation that I went into “Cruella,” the origin story of “101 Dalmatians” villainess Cruella de Vil.
In order to prep for the movie, I watched 1961’s “101 Dalmations” so I’d have some context. I don’t know that I’d ever seen the spotted puppy classic, and it certainly isn’t required viewing to enjoy “Cruella” (but there are some ‘Easter Egg’ nods to that original film).
The main hook in the narrative of “Cruella” is centered on Estella (Emma Stone), a thriving grifter and aspiring fashionista in 1970s London.
The film starts out with sequences of grade school Estella (Tipper Seifert-Cleveland) during her early years in rural England, living with her mother Catherine (Emily Beecham). These scenes show us a precocious and creative girl whose “hair makes a statement.” She has a side to her personality that is edgy — “your name’s Estella, not Cruella” her mother opines as the two debate on the proper way to make clothes for the girl’s teddy bear.
Estella’s penchant for challenging the world continually gets her in trouble at primary school. This ultimately creates situation where Catherine has to uproot her daughter to London.
A series of unfortunate events leaves our heroine an orphan, on her own (with her dog Buddy) in the streets of London.
Fortunately, Estella is able to make “friends in unlikely places,” and is buoyed in a chance meeting at Regent’s Park Fountain by youthful thieves Horace (Joseph MacDonald) and Jasper (Ziggy Gardner).
The setup pulls elements of classic tales like “Annie” and “Oliver Twist,” and provides the foundation for Estella and the boys to evolve into a successful (and sophisticated) thieving trio.
Estella dyes her hair a unified color, and a montage sequence (to the Rolling Stones 1960s tune “She’s a Rainbow”) moves the characters 10 years forward into early adulthood.
Estella designs useful (and stylish) disguises for the trio to pull off various heists. Horace (Paul Walter Hauser) and Jasper (Joel Fry) are both affable members of the hodge-podge “family that is good at stealing stuff.”
Thievery isn’t Estella’s ultimate goal in life. To that end, Jasper is able to procure Estella an entry-level job at Liberty for her birthday — the “most fashionable department store in the city” (which exists in London to this day).
The position isn’t where the wistful fashion designer hopes to be, but she does eventually find herself in the employ of Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson), the head of the couture House of Baroness.
What ensues is sort of like “The Devil Wears Prada” if it had been written and directed by the love child of Tim Burton and Guy Ritchie.
(I was just watching Burton’s 1989 film “Batman” a couple weeks ago, and his gothic flair during that era feels like an inspiration for “Cruella” — minus the Danny Elfman soundtrack.)
“Cruella” was directed by Craig Gillespie. I wasn’t familiar with his work. He is probably best known for the 2017 biopic “I, Tonya” (he is also a director and executive producer on the upcoming Apple TV+ series “Physical”).
If this movie is any indication, he’s a director we’ll be hearing more from in the coming years.
“Cruella” combines elements of a stylized fairy tale with an unorthodox heist movie.
Estella’s rise in the fashion world plays with her internal emotional sensibilities. The juxtaposition between the heartfelt Estella and the edgy Cruella is at play throughout the film.
“I’m Cruella,” she says, “born brilliant, born bad, and a little bit mad.”
“Cruella” maintained a brisk pace throughout. When I hear a movie runs two-plus hours, I’m often concerned about ‘narrative drag.‘ But the film’s overall momentum kept me interested (and I have the attention span of a gnat).
Part of the appeal of “Cruella” is its overall look. The production design and fashions are a visual feast for the eyes. The costumes are essentially a character unto themselves, and provide more dimension to the film's characters.
Costume designer Jenny Beavan created 277 costumes for the movie (including 47 for Stone’s character). Beavan is a two-time Oscar winner who previously designed for “Mad Max: Fury Road” and period dramas like “Gosford Park.”
This Disney featurette focuses on some of the costumes in the film:
I also enjoyed the soundtrack for “Cruella.” The filmmakers weave in a seemingly endless supply of songs from the 1960s and 70s. The musical stylings also include the newly recorded “Call Me Cruella” by indie rock band Florence + the Machine.
While the script itself doesn’t have a whole lot of depth, the performances in the film are able to overcome the deficiencies.
Emma Stone is one of today’s underrated performers. She has more range than she gets credit for, and gives off a certain je ne sais quoi in “Cruella” that has you rooting for her character throughout (read more about Stone in my 2018 blog post “The Lost Review: Is ‘La La Land‘ All That?“).
Emma Thompson is solid, as usual, and is spot-on as an egomaniacal fashion designer. We don’t see her in films nearly enough these days, but she starred in two of my favorite films of the 1990s — 1991’s “Dead Again” and 1993‘s “The Remains of the Day.”
In addition to the two Emmas, the supporting players in “Cruella” give notable performances (often with scant material to work with).
In particular, Paul Walker Hauser has a number of “scene-stealing” quips as Horace. I’ve written about him before in my 2019 review of Cobra Kai Season 2. While I wasn’t quite sold on his character in “Cobra Kai,” there is an affable goofiness about his performance in “Cruella” that aids the overall vibe.
I also enjoyed the understated performance of Joel Fry as Jasper. Horace and Jasper could have been silly simpletons, but I appreciate that the filmmakers chose to give them a bit more texture.
Another one of Estella’s cohorts is Artie (John McCrea), the owner of a vintage fashion store called 2nd Time Around. While the character doesn’t garner much screen time, his Bowie-esque look ads to the film’s punk-rock aesthetic.
I think “Cruella” is a textbook case of a movie becoming something greater than the sum of its parts. I can’t quite put my finger on exactly why it works, but it works.
It also had more of an ‘edge’ than I was expecting.
Some of you will remember the G-rated “101 Dalmatians” reboot Glenn Close headlined in the 1990s. While that movie (and a sequel) was built to be “kid-friendly,” this film veers in a grown-up direction.
“Cruella” is rated PG-13 and is more nuanced than any of its predecessors. That said, this is Disney we’re talking about, so the film doesn’t push the envelope too much. Still, it was nice to see something a little more sophisticated this time around.
I enjoyed Disney’s “Cruella.”
Maybe my fondness is due to the fact that I went in with low expectations (and without any preconceived notions), but I had a good time with “Cruella.”
P.S. – Be sure to watch for a mid-credit scene after the movie!
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