Movie review: Disney has done it – «Cruella» is fantastic

First off: this review contains no spoilers. You’ll only see what’s apparent from the already released trailers.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. Disney and its remakes. Yet again. Yawn. None of the past live-action spins on earlier animated classics have even come close to holding a candle to the originals. Why would «Cruella» be any different?

Well: Disney’s latest remake is markedly divergent in one aspect.

It’s smarter. For example, you don’t do «Lion King» by just retelling what has already been done better in cartoon form. And it doesn’t retroactively ruin the source material either, mentioning no Mulans names. Instead, it takes an infamous antagonist from «101 Dalmatians» and reinvents her. In a completely new way. This gives «Cruella» something all other live-action adaptations have lacked:

A reason to exist.

Youth gone wild

The early 1970s, London. Estella (Emma Stone) is young, wild and has a head full of ideas. Together with her two criminal yet lovable buddies Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser), she builds a life on the edge. And one fateful day, Estella’s flair for fashionable designs wins the attention of the legendary Baroness von Hellmann (Emma Thompson), head of the hottest fashion label in London’s high society.

Soon the talented Estella rises to become the Baroness’s protégé. But not before uncovering vile machinations that shake Estella to her core. So much so, in fact, that the lowest, innermost abysses of depravity come to light – and that’s not all.

What follows is rebellion.

A director who knows their craft

Theeeere we go. Finally, a live-action Disney remake that dares to step out of the shadow of its original. And quite aggressively so. Because if there’s one thing «Cruella» isn’t, it’s ordinary. The characters, costumes, décor and soundtrack are all way too wacky for that. Everything is loud, begging for your attention. It’s all either fantastically kitsch or garish and off-the-wall.

«Normal? Yeah, right,» is a motto this movie fully takes to heart.

Most of this can be squarely blamed on director Craig Gillespie. He deftly situates «his» Cruella in the midst of London’s 1970s punk and pub rock revolution. This adds an immensely powerful atmosphere to the film – and to its main character, by extension. With «I, Tonya», the Australian has already proven that he knows how to stage morally ambivalent characters. Confirming that Disney knew exactly who they were going to give the directing job to from the start.

After all, «I, Tonya» was made about the rude yet talented figure skater Tonya Harding, never truly fitting in with the chic figure skating establishment. «Cruella» isn’t far removed from that. In Disney’s new flick, the young Estella, who later only goes by Cruella, gives London’s high society the middle finger – with daring fashion and punk rock, of course.

Such as when she storms a fancy fashion show to a punky version of «These Boots Are Made for Walkin’». On a motorcycle, mind you. On one side, there’s the mentor/rival, the Baroness, dreadful beauty in human form. Then there’s Cruella, with her leather jacket and helmet. I like it. However, the gear is quickly removed, revealing a face smeared in black make-up. Grimy. But the spots she leaves blank reveal her slogan: «The Future».

Ha! Extremely meta, but it works.

Especially in the second half of the film, Gillespie wholly and completely savours the dark abysses of his main character. He can afford to do this, as he has long established his main character as a bratty but sympathetic young woman by that point. Not flawless, no. But empathetic enough to side with. A little rebellion never hurt anyone.

Not yet, anyway.

But most of all, this movie is fun. Thanks in no small part to Gillespie’s crafty direction. There are long tracking shots, exciting settings and constant clever scene transitions. This isn’t bland service by the book, as we know it from Guy Ritchie’s «Aladdin». I can never get enough of those minutely detailed backdrops. The rocking soundtrack that accompanies almost the entire film ensures that all viewers will be happily bobbing along by the end. I almost didn’t notice that Nicholas Britell, an extremely capable composer, wrote the score.

«Cruella,» the film, wants to be as controversial as its protagonist, effortlessly including an LGBTQ character within the story, woven in near perfectly. Apparently, Disney gave its director free rein, not only tolerating risks, but encouraging them.

The same goes for the direction Emma Stone goes for in her interpretation of Cruella.

The intangible Emmas

Emma Stone. Her Cruella could hardly be further removed from Glenn Close’s 1996 portrayal in Disney’s first live-action adaptation of «101 Dalmatians». Don’t get me wrong, Close was perfect. An animated Cruella made flesh. Crazy and eccentric. But Stone – Stone is a brat. A snot-nosed revolutionary rebelling against the establishment.

Diametrically distinct from Close, it’s just great to watch. Precisely because Stone doesn’t give us the Cruella we expect. Her Cruella is a mix of 1970s Nancy Sinatra sexiness and Margot Robbie’s shrill Harley Quinn craziness in DC’s «Suicide Squad».

Does that sound like Disney to you?

Exactly. She faces off with another Emma. Emma Thompson. This one plays the Baroness, obviously referencing Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly in «The Devil Wears Prada»: bossy, feared and eternally condescending. And when she speaks, everyone listens.

It’s these two forces of nature, Stone and Thompson, that make «Cruella» a truly magnificent cinematic experience. I can’t tell which of the two enjoys her role more. The textbook model of rebelliousness or the aristocratic traditionalist? Be that as it may, us viewers always benefit in the end.

Especially since Gillespie has another ace up his sleeve. Two, in fact: Jasper and Horace, played by Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser. In «101 Dalmatians», they’re simply Cruella’s dorky sidekicks. In «Cruella,» however, they are so much more than that. They’re the very heart of the film, giving us spectators a unique perspective; an outsider’s view of the madness unfolding between two warring goddesses. Simultaneously, their pitch-perfect comedic timing steals the show from the two Emmas in almost every scene they appear in.

That’s a big deal.

In the midst of this cinematically grandiose rebellion, however, there’s also a huge amount of Jenny Beavan. She’s the costume designer behind all of this movie’s stunning gowns that are just so devilishly divine – or divinely devilish, whichever way you spin it. After all, Beavan isn’t a nobody: in 2016, she won the Oscar for Best Costume Design in «Mad Max: Fury Road.» If «Cruella» doesn’t earn her another Oscar, then I don’t know what will.

My verdict

«Cruella» is without a doubt Disney’s best live-action adaptation of an earlier animated classic. And not only because of the stunning costumes and scenery. The story – even if somewhat predictable – is incredibly fun, not boring for even an instant. But above all, it isn’t a cheap copy of a classic that simply pulls the nostalgia card.

Just look at the near-perfect performances from Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry and Paul Walter, all playing off each other under the capable supervision of Craig Gillespie. Add to that the refreshingly punk-rock soundtrack, and that’s how «Cruella» ends up as an extremely worthy candidate for your first Covid-free cinema visit.

«Cruella» can be seen in cinemas from May 27 and on Disney+ from May 28 via paid VIP access (CHF 29.90).