Cruella

by Tyler Glover 

Photo: Disney

Director: Craig Gillespie 
Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson & Joel Fry 
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours & 14 minutes 

Disney’s journey into live adaptations of its beloved animated classics began with “Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book” in 1994. Shortly after that, Disney did a 101 Dalmatians adaptation in 1996, followed by its’ sequel in 2000. After this, it would be 10 years before Disney would release another one. However, with the enormous success of “Alice In Wonderland” in 2010, Disney immediately started cranking out live adaptations hoping to replicate the box office success of ‘Alice’ and that it has managed to do. So far, the live adaptations in terms of quality have been mixed. There have been some highs (“Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast”) and some lows (“Dumbo” and “Christopher Robin”). Audiences have still flocked to these films mostly due to the nostalgia factor.  

However, what has been the most fascinating aspect to me is when Disney has explored the origin stories of its villains. What made them become bad? If we are all the heroes of our own stories, what is their motivation? Are they simply misunderstood? Disney hit a homerun with “Maleficent” and when “Cruella” was announced, the hope was for it to be able to match this story. What I did not expect was for it to exceed it.

“Cruella” tells the story of Estella Miller (played by Academy Award winner Emma Stone), a highly creative child who is very interested into fashion but also has a cruel streak. Her mother calls this side of her “Cruella” and wants her to try to hide Cruella away. As Estella grows up, she gets the chance of a lifetime to work with the Baroness, a haute couture designer (played by Academy Award winner Emma Thompson). As Estella works to achieve her dream of being a fashion designer, it threatens the Baroness and battle lines are drawn. In fact, the best scenes of the entire movie are when Cruella and the Baroness are at war with one another. Emma Thompson’s performance is reminiscent of Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly in “The Devil Wears Prada.” She is stone cold as the boss from Hell. Stone is also pitch-perfect and leaves us wanting more even after a two-hour run time. Both Emmas are perfectly cast and both should get Oscar nominations. Will they? Probably not, but it would be very well deserved.

Aside from the strong performances from Stone and Thompson, the film has a spectacular screenplay that really keeps us involved and excited to see what is going to happen next. Also, the film is beautiful to look at with beautiful sets and spectacular costumes that put us into the punk scene of 1970s London. This film will most likely be competing in the Best Costume Design category at the Oscars and stands a good shot at winning.

The only flaw that I really feel the film has is that we do not fully understand Cruella’s motivation as to what made her bad. The film touches on this evil side she has and even talks about how she could have been born that way. While it does touch on whether it is a nature or nurture thing that causes people to be bad, it does not give a clear answer. Although, a sequel has been greenlit so Disney will have a chance to rectify this.

Disney’s other live action venture into a villain’s origin story, “Maleficent,” chose to completely make a villain of King Stefan for us to understand Maleficent. While “Cruella” also shows us a horrible person that our hero had to face, it manages to present us with two three-dimensional characters who even though we may not agree with them, we understand their hunger and their drive for success. In future Disney villain tales, I hope Disney follows the example of “Cruella” rather than “Maleficent.” 

“Cruella” has a compelling story that keeps you engrossed the full two hours with captivating performances from its cast, especially the leads. It takes us into the world of ‘70s London with its captivating sets and gorgeous costumes. It also leaves us wanting more and we can only hope that Disney will give the film’s sequel 101 percent like they did on this one. This truly is one of the best live action Disney films of all-time.