Cruella: A fun time, if lacking in substance.

Rob Ryan. ⭐⭐⭐

Out of all the Disney reboot's/remakes that have infested the screens in recent year's, Cruella is by far one of the better movies to be spawned and as someone who approached it with a very cynical outlook, the movie manages to be both watchable and enjoyable even if some of it's cringy and pandering "SLAY QUEEN" attitude that is so prevalent in the marketing does seep its way in through a few times so much so that lines "I'm a lion hear me roar" is said unironically in the opening scene. In spite of this, as an exploration and reinterpretation of an iconic Disney villain, it offers an interesting dimension to the world of 101 Dalmations that fans of both the Dodie Smith book and the animated and live-action movies might not have considered before.

The film wastes no time with its introduction to its title character (Emma Stone). Born with black and white hair and with a creative spark for fashion design, her mother Catherine (Emily Beecham) sadly lost her life at the hands of The Baroness's (Emma Thompson) and her vicious CGI Dalmations, pushing her off a cliff to her death. Estella (her birth name) now alone and homeless is soon greeted by two other orphan thieves, Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser). Realising that she has nowhere else to go they decide to let her join their gang and for the next 10 years enjoy making a living as grifters and pickpocketers in the streets of London. Learning of Estella's desire to pursue fashion design at the Baroness's fashion company, Jasper and Horace forge her application to get her an entry-level job as a janitor. While at first she's ignored and belittled by her boss, she soon catches the eye's of the Baroness after vandalising and defacing the window display with her own unique design. Promoted to a top position as an elite clothing designer, she soon learns that it was The Baroness who was responsible for her mother's death by calling her dogs with her whistle to push her off. With this newfound revelation, she vows to get even by stealing a necklace that belonged to her mother, but not before changing into her alter-ego Cruella that will gate crash every elite party that the Baroness will host.

To carry on would be to spoil the movie and its twists even further, but all I'll say that it doesn't go in all the directions that I expected it to go however, you're mileage may vary depending on your response to said twists, especially one that is revealed in the post credit's scene.

There's definitely a sense of fun that went into making it from both in front and behind the camera. Mainly carried through in Graig Gilliespie's playful direction and versatility in tone from adapting a punky and nostalgic 60s New Wave tone to a snappy heist film, but through that, he manages to give the film a sinister touch without sacrificing the punky feel of the first half. This is indicative of the film's climax which without spoiling too much does leave the question hanging on whether this latest scheme of Cruella will lead to an eventful murder. The film's use of the 60s and 70s hit's in the soundtrack really aid's the film's punky and edgy tone even if they become overused in a few point's. One thing that is worthy of praise that should go unnoticed is the alluring costume design by Jenny Bevan who's costumes for Cruella is the film at its most visually appealing and spellbinding and as someone who takes little to no interested in the art of costume design, it's a reminder that it's a role in cinema that should not be taken for granted.

The cast, especially its 3 main characters all seem to be having the time of their lives, adopting the mannerisms and qualities of the iconic characters while still managing to make them their own. Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser's portrayals of Jasper and Horace is by far the film at its most charming, with Jasper being the one with the brains and the loveable Horace being both clumsy and annoying but is shown to be the more endearing and emotional out of the duo, Their introduction as children is where the movie starts becoming fun and their contribution to the film is one that I welcomed.

But as shown in the advertising it's certainly Stone's film and it's one that she exploits greatly by chewing the scenery at every opportunity. It's a portrayal that could have potentially come across as a parody and while the posh accent certainly comes close, it's elevated by the fact that Stone is an actress incredible enough to make the emotions of the character believable, making you feel for her one minute but also questioning yourself after for feeling anything for a woman who would go on to try and murder innocent puppies. It's even more of a challenge because Glenn Close's portrayal of the character was so iconic that there was no way it was ever going to be topped. This is why it's a smart move that Stone does not try to recreate the laugh, the outbursts and the anger that the character is well known for, instead, she offers a layer of empathy to a character who under bad circumstances in childhood is now a bitter young woman who has potential to make something of herself if it weren't for the fact that she is very destructive and wants to shout and rebel at the world.

As mentioned there are some problematic elements of the film that need to be addressed, while the film does an interesting job in offering a different element to the iconic character by answering the question of "what was she like before she went bad", In terms of trying to establish the element of her character that she was well known for prior to this film's existence (I.E a psychotic lunatic) it's something that the film is less successful at and instead the film seems to be more interested (in typical Disney Fashion) in painting The Baroness (who's never given her real name for some reason) as the villain and Cruella as the righter of wrongs, rather than establishing what made Cruella so evil in the first place. There is an element of that carried through when Estella's alter ego takes over and she starts treating her only friends like dirt. Unfortunately, that compelling part of the film is immediately glossed over and instead carries on in the typical plot of defeating an evil woman with money and power. A more interesting film would have the Baroness with loads of power and influence actually use that to her advantage against the underdogs in Cruella, highlighting the different dynamics in power through wealth as opposed to looking like an idiot when Cruella one's her up in the fashion race. This would then conclude Cruella's journey in trying to climb the status ladder into becoming the very thing she hated and stood against and thus became the character we know today. I guess that idea is not in line with the film's girl boss "YASS QUEEN" pop feminist messaging and Disney's brand in making films as safe and acceptable as possible.

As a result, the film's exclusion of Cruella's transition from a charismatic character to a raging sociopath does render the movie as a whole fairly surface level and safe. In its place are twists and turns which while not completely unpredictable and are more surprising than expected, are fairly ordinary as far as "good VS evil" narratives go and while the narrative does make Cruella sympathetic it doesn't do much to justify her evil way's that she is best known for. It's not that you can't make a movie about a character who's evil and have that be your protagonist but in order to make a character study about someone who we've perceived to be evil you need to have a balance of offering both a side to a character who's identifiable without ignoring the element's of them that make them perceived as an evil person and this is something that Cruella unfortunately lacks.

Regardless, Cruella is a fun time. I don't know if little kids will get into it very well as there are no CGI rabbit's running around every 30 seconds and it's not completely successful at what it set's out to do, but I appreciate it if anything else for trying and more so for the fact that it doesn't take itself too seriously for the most part. It's also nice that they actually decided to do something different instead of making the same film over again but worse. (even if it's once every couple of years) I would definitely welcome more film's like this in their catalogue. If they ever make a sequel to this, I would like it to be about Jasper and Horace standing up to Cruella for being unhinged and abusive to them.

Cruella is available in cinemas and Disney+ now.