Cruella is both ridiculous and strangely engaging, despite its myriads of flaws. It’s a prequel that would have stood much better as an original story but pays tepid lip service to the classic 101 Dalmatians. Featuring two great performances and a bevy of stylish clothes, it keeps you watching even as you come close to giving up when presented with each new plateau of ridiculousness.
Estrella (Emma Stone) was born with a birth defect that gives her two hair colors. She is met with ridicule in school and often gets into fights and other mischief. One day, however, her mother (Emily Beecham) is killed when three Dalmatians push her over a cliff at an upper class party. The newly orphaned Estrella finds herself in the company of Horace (Paul Walter Hauser) and Jasper (Joel Fry) who teach her how to steal and pull off jobs to make a living. Once she’s grown, Estrella, who has a head for fashion, finds a cleaning job at a department store. A prominent fashion designer, Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson) notices her once she vandalizes a shop display and hires her at her fashion house. Things get even more complicated as Estrella eventually realizes that the Baroness is her enemy and that her darker side, Cruella, has to be let out to deal with this enemy.
Emma Stone does well as both Estrella and Cruella, although this version of Cruella is never as downright evil as the one seen in both the 60s and 90s adaptations of the classic story. In fact, she doesn’t really have a bone to grind with dogs, other than the fact that Dalmatians killed her mother. She even has a doting dog of her own! Of course, she does joke that the Dalmatians would make a good coat, and she even misleads the Baroness into believing she carried through on that thought, but she is ultimately portrayed as a chaotic neutral person, in the vein of Joker.
Emma Thompson also turns in one of the most delightful turns as a Disney villain in recent memory. She is highly reminiscent of Meryl Streep’s memorable turn in The Devil Wears Prada. When Estrella accuses her of killing her mother, the Baroness asks her to be more specific, suggesting that she has a habit of killing mothers.
The style in Cruella is also to be lauded. Some of the dresses are truly inventive, such as a dress made of ‘trash’ that is made up of several old pieces designed by the Baroness now co-opted by Cruella. As many as eighty dresses were designed for the film by Jenny Beavan. The soundtrack is also filled with classics, though the film overdoes it and even has the audacity to use Sympathy for the Devil to frame Cruella’s rise.
As entertaining as the film can be, it’s ridiculousness and over reliance on twists prevent it from being a good film.
It also doesn’t really play into the darkness and — pun intended- cruelty of the main character. It feels like it takes place in an alternate universe, despite dropping off two Dalmatian puppies for Roger and Anita at the end.
Let’s hope that Disney does a better job of handling these villain prequels in the future, though that hope may be unwarranted.