Like most Disney live-action origin stories, there wasn't a ginormous demand for a "101 Dalmatians" prequel about Cruella de Vil. Yes, the infamous puppy-killing villain is back in a completely re-imagined shade of style and insanity.
Director Craig Gillespie attempts to tackle the challenges of leading the third live action "101 Dalmatians" adaptation. But thanks to Emma Stone's expertise, this film has some great moments to savor.
Disney's Cruella | Official Trailerwww.youtube.com
Viewers meet Estella (Emma Stone), Cruella's birth name, as a little girl who dreams of being a fashion designer like the Baroness (Emma Thompson). Her single mother does everything she can to raise a gentle daughter, but Estella is a feisty outcast with only one friend, Anita (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). After a series of unfortunate events, she meets Horace (Paul Walter Hauser) and Jasper (Joel Fry). With her new pals, she becomes a petty thief with help from doggie sidekicks Buddy and Wink. As the years pass, her fashion skills grow as she creates elaborate disguises for various heists.
Her hard work, and trickery from Horace and Jasper, lands her an unglamorous maintenance job in a designer store where the Baroness notices her talent. After that fateful meeting, Estella finds herself splitting at the seams after discovering a fatal secret.
It's an extremely loud movie
Clocking in over two hours, the audience feels when the movie slogs because of the messy direction. It's like someone asked Gillespie "how loud do you want your elements in the film?" And he said "yes."
Sure, the costumes are stunning and elaborate thanks to lead costume designer Jenny Beavan and her team. But elements, like the soundtrack, are trying to be too many things at once. There's no clear style in the music choice going from punk covers to classic rock, but as long as it was loud it got an a-OK for a 15-second sound bite.
But the biggest flaw in the film is that it drives its plot at full speed, like Cruella's characteristic driving skills, and hardly stops to take a breather for character development.
Characters feel thrown in for the sake of calling back to the animated 1961 original film based on Dodie Smith's children's novel. "Cruella" could've removed Roger (Kayvan Novak) and Anita, two of the few people of color, and it wouldn't have made a difference. Both characters and the eccentric Artie (John McCrea), a second-hand shop owner, feel like token diversity characters with shallow involvement in the plot. The only side character whose role is thought through is John the Valet (Mark Strong) for reasons to be seen.
But thank goodness for Emma Stone
Emma Stone deserves all the praise for this film. She completely embraces Estella and Cruella with complexity, confidence and unexpected tender moments. She has plenty of great moments with Fry and Hauser, whose characters get tired of Cruella's extreme antics. But her chemistry with Thompson is unmatched. It's a delight to see the Emmas carry the film on their backs with witty banter that Miranda Priestly would be proud of. And for that, it's a film worth watching.
Score: 6/10
Watch "Cruella" on Disney+ with premier access or in theaters starting Friday, May 28.
Follow the reporter on Twitter at @s_incorvaia.
