Cruella

If taken as its own thing (rather than as a “prequel” to any version of 101 Dalmatians), this punk-infused comedy/drama is a fun cross between The Devil Wears Prada and a family-friendly crime caper, carried by a captivating central performance from Emma Stone.

Premise: Despite having grown up on the streets of 1970s London running grifts with fellow street urchins Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser), Estella (Emma Stone) dreams of being a fashion designer, hoping to one day catch the eye of renowned designer Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson).

Review:

I’ve gone on record as saying that I don’t really see the point of remaking existing Disney animated classics, unless you’re really going to bring something new to the screen. For this reason, I enjoyed remakes like 2019’s Dumbo and 2020’s Mulan more than, say, the live-action versions of The Lion King and Cinderella (which just felt like shot-for-shot remakes made with improved VFX).

Cruella is certainly doing something new with the source material … in fact, if you were going to criticise anything about the movie, it’s that the main character bears little-to-no resemblance to the character of Cruella de Vil as depicted in any other material. In the original children’s novel, the 1961 animated Disney film, and the 1996 live action Disney remake, Cruella de Vil is an unrepentantly evil character. In comparison, the character that Emma Stone plays in Cruella (who is actually named Estella) is not, in any real sense, “Cruella de Vil”, nor could (in my opinion) the character that we see in this film believable develop into that evil caricature in the future.

“…the film’s given a punk-infused spin by Emma Stone’s effervescent central performance…”

However, none of that is a reason to dislike Cruella, and if you can ignore the fact that this movie fundamentally contradicts the original source material, there’s a lot of enjoy in taking this film in isolation. In that respect, it’s very similar to 2019’s Joker, which also directly contradicted its source material but worked well in its own “parallel universe”.

Taken for what it is, Cruella is an entertaining blend of various familiar tropes and storylines, but given a punk-infused spin by Emma Stone’s effervescent central performance. Plotwise, the film sees Estella orphaned at a young age (this is a Disney film, after all), before becoming a (light-hearted) confidence trickster with fellow grifters Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser), who are both also far more three dimensional than the “Baddun brothers” in the animated movie. From there, it’s not a huge spoiler to say that the film covers similar ground to The Devil Wears Prada, with Estella eventually being given an opportunity to work under the tyrannical fashion design, Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson).

“…Emma Stone absolutely carried the film with her fourth-wall-breaking performance…”

It’s from that point onwards that the film really starts to break the mould and become something new and more exciting. For reasons I won’t spoil here, Estella has to create an alternate identity for herself, in the form of mysterious avant-garde fashionista “Cruella”, as part of an even more elaborate scheme. Emma Stone is great as both Estella and her “Cruella” persona, playing them initially as very distinct personalities, before her character begins to lose sight of the dividing line between the two.

Emma Stone absolutely carried the film with her fourth-wall-breaking performance, but the rest of the main cast also add so much to the material. Emma Thompson is clearly having fun playing the most “Cruella de Vil”-like character in the film, while Joel Fry brings the heart and Paul Walter Hauser brings the humour to Estella’s inner circle.

“…the Oscar-winning costumes are suitably impressive…”

There’s also a great supporting cast built around the main four characters, with people like Mark Strong and Emily Beecham appearing in smaller roles, and Jamie Demetriou appearing in a small but scene-stealing comedic sub-plot. All in all, the comedy in the film works surprisingly well, with plenty to keep viewers of all ages amused.

As the film is set in the fashion world, it’s perhaps not surprising that the costumes (which won an Oscar) are suitably impressive, in that over-the-top, no-one-would-actually-wear-it way catwalk fashion way. That sense of larger-than-life exuberance is arguably carried through into the tone of the film itself, with director Craig Gillespie balancing the humour and more far-fetched elements well alongside the more dramatic and grounded moments.

“…an unexpectedly fun crime caper that the whole family can enjoy…”

Overall, if you can get over the fact that Emma Stone’s character is ultimately an overly flamboyant antihero that really bears no real resemblance to the irredeemably evil Cruella de Vil seen elsewhere, there’s a lot to enjoy in seeing Emma Stone channel her inner Ferris Bueller. More a complete reinterpretation than a “prequel”, Cruella is an unexpectedly fun crime caper that the whole family can enjoy.