Cruella (2021)

 

In the 1960s, the Walt Disney company was trying to experiment with a lot of things. One of these projects was cutting down on their animation, and thanks to the xerography process, it made their 1961 feature “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” easier to animate. And while the animation is good for that film, it's not what people remember. What people do remember about that film is the villain: Cruella de Vil. And Disney took notice. The company managed to take the central image of that character, and make it one of the key selling points of the movie. And, naturally, Disney experimented by turning the character into live action. In 1996, they tried with somewhat disastrous results, but now, we have a full-blown movie dedicated to the character. So, how does “Cruella” stand out? It's good. Not great, but good enough to watch on the big screen. True, there are some moments that don't add up, but as a whole, the movie is quite good. “Cruella” is an interesting character study, that will definitely get a lot of entertainment out it.

The story is an origin for the villianess Cruella de Vil (Emma Stone). Set in during the 1970s, Cruella, or in this case, Estella, is working for a lead fashion model known as the Baroness (Emma Thompson). To her surprise, Estella finds out that the Baroness only cares fur herself, and so, Estella starts losing her ideas and being cast down upon as being nothing more than insignificant. So, taking up the Cruella persona, she starts to take the Baroness down, and make Cruella be up on top. With some good friends named Jasper and Horace (Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser respectively), Cruella decides to take a stand on the fashion industry.

“Cruella” is good, and that's the biggest compliment that I can give the movie.

To start off with, the performances are pretty good. Especially Emma Stone. She really steals the show here, and it just may be one of her best performances. Stone definitely shines through everything else that the film has to offer. Thompson is also good here as well, as she manages to play the snobbish type down to perfection. Fry and Hauser are also good at bringing some comedic relief into the movie, and their performances are good, as well. This can be attributed to director Craig Gillespie, who's previous work, 2017's “I, Tonya”, was also praised for its acting.

The costume and set design is also a plus here. Everything looks like a 1970s version of England, and it really showcases the time period well. As for the costumes, they are gorgeous! Since this is a movie that revolves around the fashion industry, the costumes are definitely a sight to behold. They can range from being incredible pieces of eye candy, to fabric that needs to be put up in a museum. Whoever designed the costumes for this feature should get an award.

The music is also a noteworthy aspect of the feature. While the key orchestration by Nicholas Britel is minimal at best, it still does the job fairly well. As for the soundtrack, it is pretty good as it features a lot of music from the 1970s that is sure to bounce a couple of heads.

But with all that said and completed, that doesn't mean the movie is perfect.

There are some actors and their performance that do not hold up with the main leads. This includes Mark Strong, who is mainly there to be a tough, but lovable, guy. And then there are the supporting cast who play Roger and Anita, two of the most significant characters from the original story, that almost feel wasted here. Here, they feel unnecessary to the plot, and do not contribute a whole lot of purpose, until the very end. And if they were revealed as some sort of twist, then it would be acceptable. But as it stands, it is completely pointless seeing them here.

Which brings me to the biggest problem with the movie in general. The writing. Written by Diana Fox and Tony McNamara, with a story by Aline Brosh McKenna, Kelly Marcel and Steve Zissis, the story for “Cruella” is not that great, to be perfectly honest. The film tries very hard to make this origin story of one of the most famous Disney villains of all time, but it just copies from other works. Now, the biggest comparison a lot people will make is that this movie shares a close resemblance to “Joker”. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. There isn't any anarchy being involved, and the whole boils down to a revenge plot. If the writing had just stuck to consistent formula, and one key motivation, then the plot would be engaging enough to follow. But as it stands, this script needed some sort of rewrite.

In conclusion, “Cruella” is good, and focuses a lot on a character that has gained a significant amount of popularity, but, don't expect a good story attached to it.