Cruella Review
Emma Stone stars in the Origin film of the villain from 101 Dalmatians.
Cruella is a fan favourite for all Disney fans but it is safe to assume that nobody actually wanted or thought about an origin film for her. However, as we have seen from Lion King and The Jungle Book, Disney is moving towards a new direction revolved around live action films.
Plot:
The film's plot is revolved around - surprise, surprise- Stella ( you did not expect it, did you?). Stella is a young energetic girl made special by her extrordinary white and black hair. She is living with her mother who raises her as best as her economic conditions allow her. She is taken into a private school in which Stella is causin mayhem, which causes her to visit the principal's office more than once.
She is eventually expelled, or withdrawn according to her mother, which forces the small family to move. Catherine (Cruella's mother), Cruella and her little dog go to ask for help from a family friend who lives in a mansion. Things do not go according to plan, something that forces Stella to end up in London.
Let me just say that the childrens' acting is as expected- awful. I could not wait for the time until Emma Stone and the adult actors finally joined.
After a couple of minutes, Emma Stone finally is revealed and we finally can get on our way towards the transformation of Stella into Cruella. Let me just say this, Emma Stone's back must have hurt terrifically from carrying this movie. The actress has showed us time and time again that she is not just there for her godlike looks (I am a fanboy of hers , kill me). Stella grows up with her thief orphan friends doing thief stuff. Her role is primarily making the costumes that allow the gang making their thief things.
However, she does not enjoy this life, she knows that she deserves better.
Her friend Jasper Badun (played by Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser) assists her into getting a job at a department store in which she is given the job of scrubbing the floors by a narcisstic and painfully bland character. However, a bit of liquor (when I drink I usually end up disappointing my family) transforms her life and brings her into the life of Baroness von Hellman (played by the talented Emma Thompson). From then, the transformation of Stella begins to take action.
Review:
+ Emma Stone played the character of the calm Stella amazingly and the role of the badass bitch Cruella perfectly. The mannerisms of the character were top notch and you could see that she has a love for the character. From the driving down to the snarky comments, Stone was able to capture the spirit of the character just right. Props to her
+The references from the 1961 animated movie were spot on. From the aesthetic of the movie down to the driving of Cruella and the Mansion, the director Craig Gillespie managed to insert the spirit of the animated movie into the live action adaptation (something not as easy as it sounds as seen from the previous attempts of Disney's live action)
+The soundtrack was amazing. Props to whoever was in charge for the music. Give him a raise immediately. The choice of music was appropriate for every chosen scene. Ranging from The Rolling Stones to Black Sabbath to Nina Simone to an original song made from Florence+ The Machine, the soundtrack gave the movie an identity like no other.
- I am no fan of the corny and childish humor that most Disney movies adapt. Not even in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which I adore) I cannot get myself to laugh at the majority of the jokes. Cruella suffers from this as well as the angle joke just made me cringe my hair out. No points lost from this though since it is a personal thing.
- Disney pussied out. Just like in the case of Venom, the choice to adapt a villain's side into the big screen, Cruella was turned from a emotionless and ambitious villain into a kindhearted anti-hero. Don't get me wrong, it is very hard to make your central protagonist into a villain but that is who Cruella is. Cruella should have done way worse things instead of turned into a character that is going to make edgy teens relate to them. It should have made us say "Holy shit, she is a bitch right now". She had her moments ofcourse, but it still wasn't enough to satisfy what could have been.