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Cruella Movie Review

Cruella is a 2021 crime comedy film directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Emma Stone and Emma Thompson. It’s an unexpectedly good, fun flick.

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“The thing is, I was born brilliant,

born bad,

and a little bit mad.

I’m Cruella“

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When I first heard that they were making a Cruella prequel movie that is an origin story for the character, I was extremely skeptical at the prospects of such an ill-fated idea on paper. It sounded like another ‘Maleficent’ disaster that dilutes and destroys any villainous part of the great villain character. Surprisingly enough, I was proven wrong, and now I can say that this movie is one of the better live-action Disney movies, and certainly one of the most fun.

There is a lot to love here, but let’s first state the obvious – it is a very unoriginal mish-mash of different ideas. It is basically ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ meets ‘Joker’, but with a dash of heist movie and a sprinkle of ‘Batman’ thrown into the proceedings with the stealing parts representing the former and the protagonist’s double identity the latter. Some of these work better than others, but overall most worked out unexpectedly well, and I was having a blast watching the movie despite its excessive length.

Watching it, you get a distinct feeling that this movie is nothing but an homage to the original ‘101 Dalmatians’ and is meant to serve as an origin story for Cruella de Vil first and foremost. Thus, no matter how strong the storyline is, and I do find it to be quite strong, it cannot really stand on its own without the original in mind. It is perfect for the fans of the original, the character and Disney as a whole, which is why I loved it as I fit that bill.

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Emma Stone is marvelous as Cruella. Her accent is solid, her delivery is fantastic and she sold particularly well the dialogue and the bitchiness of the character. Her look is superb here and fitting for the character and she was very believable both as Estella and as Cruella. But this just might be Emma Thompson’s movie as the Baroness was a role made for her. Theatrical, arrogant and oh so delightfully evil, Thompson shines so bright as this instantly iconic Disney villain that is the most memorable thing about the whole movie.

The two squaring against each other was an utter joy to follow, but there are some other characters worthy of praise. John and Artie are both wonderful additions, but their screen time was decidedly small. Anita was racebent needlessly so, but the character was faithful to the original in depiction. As for Horace and Jasper, I loved them both. Joel Fry and especially Paul Walter Hauser were very good in their respective turns and it was a fantastic choice to depict them as ultimately good people who are just following Cruella’s orders due to their strong connection. This relationship was quite humanized and it worked for me.

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Cruella is at its best when it is being outrageously over-the-top, thus harkening back to the cartoon origins of the character and this IP. The many scenes where she upstaged the Baroness were so much fun that they made me laugh and smile throughout. I also really liked the heist scenes as they were brilliantly edited and executed. The whole double identity subplot worked stupendously and it wasn’t extended for too long. The dynamic between the two Emmas is the main reason why this flick is so good as they are magnetic together and wildly entertaining.

There is one part of the movie that did not work at all and that is the beginning. I did not like the kid beginning whatsoever. It felt unnecessary and so overly extended that it was a chore to sit through. The whole movie is ridiculously long, but this is the only part that I personally would have cut. The only important thing that it did was to portray what happened to Estella’s adopted mother, and the twist at the end really worked as did the trick that she pulled on the Baroness.

Cruella as a movie is somewhat reminiscent of European comic-strips in execution as it is over-the-top and unrealistic, but only to a degree as the characters and major storylines are still rooted in reality. I liked how the dogs were portrayed in a positive light and the character’s relationship with them, but overall more could have been done in that area. The costumes are a sight to behold (it’s such a drag movie in feel), the sets are gorgeous, the make-up is splendid and the 70s soundtrack is fun, but overly utilized. Technically speaking, the film is very sumptuous, but it needed better pacing and direction.

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