Cruella - Review Thread

Why?

Because this film has a distinct British crime caper feel that certainly feels influenced in a few ways by Ritchie's own British gangster movies almost, so the fact that this is NOT the live-action Disney movie he directed seems kind of surprising. But you know what? It's a tone that the movie's actual director, Craig Gillespie, taps into and is able to maintain really quite well. Plus, it helps lend the movie a lot of its personality and unique flair, especially in comparison to a lot of these other live-action Disney remakes. In terms of those films over the past few years, I can think of really only two that have stood out to me as enjoyable -- Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast -- while the rest, I've either been sort of ambivalent over or I've just not liked them. But I think I can add Cruella onto the shortlist of the ones that I legitimately like, mainly because it's able to forge its own unique identity and feel different enough from its peers to work surprisingly well. Most of the time.

In true live-action Disney remake fashion, this movie just can't avoid doing certain things that are eyeroll-worthy and undercut the intended point attempting to be made with the story. I think this one should be kind of obvious, but even though this is a film about a villain, it's still a Disney film, so obviously they feel the need to pull their punches by the end and go, "Yeah, she's bad...but is she, though?" Uh, we're talking about a woman who plots to murder and skin puppies in the original source material. Yes. She IS bad. The Third Act of this movie is pretty much a cop out in that respect, then again, what should you expect from the House of Mouse? It's especially kind of frustrating because a lot of the rest of the film leading up to that Third Act really was legitimately entertaining. Now, I wouldn't say it's enough to derail the movie, but still, you can't help but go, "Oh, that Disney..."

But again, apart from that, the rest of Cruella is still so entertaining, that I can't not recommend it. Because when it's tapping into the British crime movie feel, with a splash of Devil Wears Prada thrown in, it really is quite fun. And of course, Emma Stone just crushes it in the title role. You can tell she's having a blast sinking her teeth into this character, and we have just as much of a blast watching her. She also has really good chemistry with Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser, who play Jasper and Horace, as well as Emma Thompson, who's really the film's "true" villain. It's when the film is focused on the main character's transformation into Cruella and all of the schemes and anarchy she gets up to where it truly shines, and fortunately that's most of the runtime. Not to mention the film sports a killer soundtrack/tons of effective needle drops, which only add to the whole vibe.

So, yes, I recommend Cruella. Of all the live-action Disney remakes so far (though this is more of a prequel), it's quite easily one of the ones with the most personality and a unique flair, and isn't really a scene-for-scene recreation like the other ones. By positioning itself as a sort of British crime/heist style of film, it gets a leg up and -- Third Act pivot and CGI dalmatians aside -- provides a good time.

***/****