Cruella Review

Cruella has been jokingly referred to as Disney’s Joker and there is a certain element of truth to that. But it is both more and less than that. It would be simplistic to refer to it as such, the film has other clearer influences, but it would also be, in terms of quality, rather generous. But then to refer to it as solely a cash-grab, would also be somewhat harsh, it is only partly one. Unlike most other live-action Disney remakes of recent years this film manages to feel at least somewhat fresh, it does not feel like a lifeless, overly-flogged, carcass. Admittedly, that is the least I expect from a film. 

The influences of the film become very obvious over the first hour or so of the film. With the film’s narration, constant use of music to move between the years and the fact that we follow a ‘villain’, it is Scorsese’s Goodfellas that comes to mind, and neither Joker or the Scorsese films on which that film is so clearly based, Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. This is not to say that Goodfellas and Cruella are in any way comparable in terms of quality, but stylistically the latter clearly borrows from the former. As it partly does also from Guardians of the Galaxy, if you are being kind, or Suicide Squad if you are not. These are two recent examples of musical cues being used repeatedly throughout a film. But Cruella uses the music far better than Suicide Squad does, thankfully.

Craig Gilsepie directs the film with a vigour and energy that was also present in his 2017 film I, Tonya, of which I am a very big fan. It is the liveliness of the direction that keeps the film going for as long as it does. However, it is here where we run into the first issue with the film, and that is very simply the length of it. At 134 minutes long it is reasonably lengthy, and with not too much in the way of depth it does begin to straggle, not that you would know that from the way the camera still zips along from scene to scene. 

A word does have to be given to Emma Stone, who is good in everything, and is so here too. She does the best with what she is given. Similarly, Joel Fry, of Yesterday fame, and Paul Walter Hauser, also in I, Tonya, doing his best impression of Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins, work well with Stone and maintain a light tone. But it is Emma Thompson who, unsurprisingly, shines. She chews scenery with gusto and aplomb. In a sense she is doing an impression of Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, but it is a very good impression and highly enjoyable to watch. But it is her turn as the villain which leads to the second, and biggest, issue with the film. 

The film is ostensibly an origin story of the villain that we all know. The job of the film is to elucidate how one goes from A to B, how events led her to become who she is in 101 Dalmatians. And the film very almost does that, but then falters. Our hero, Estella, has an alter ego, Cruella, who exists inside of her, and at one point, in order to wreak her revenge upon Thompson’s Baroness von Hellman, she lets out Cruella. Her behaviour changes, she becomes uncaring, rude, obnoxious and villain-like. But then the film decides that in order to justify her revenge she has to renege on this development and in effect return to Estella. Yes she gets her revenge, but as Estella avenging the murder of her mother, not as the callous Cruella. The film ends with her victorious, but back to how she was. She now has some lackeys, but she is not yet the Cruella de Ville that we know. There is still a way to go. In this sense the film fails, it lacks conviction. This is presumably to not make the film too dark, but if you are making an origin story about a cartoon villain who wears coats made of Dalmatian fur, said villain has to end the film, as a villain, maybe even wearing some spotty fur coat, but instead we end with a triumphant hero. A likeable one at that. Where Joker followed through (and I am aware of the restrictions with age ratings and so on) Cruella fundamentally fails to. 

The film is decent. Well directed and well-acted, it is a fun time at the cinema. And it is certainly better than many of the recent live-action Disney films. But it fails to be anything more than some mildly entertaining fluff. And the most depressing thing is that Disney will not mind that. That is the real cruelty of the film.