Cruella (2021) - Film Review

For my first trip back to the cinema, I'm glad it was to see Disney's reimaging of their most notorious villain. I was really impressed with this bold retelling, giving a whole new perspective on Cruella.

Estella (Emma Stone) is a young and clever grifter who's determined to make a name for herself in the fashion world. She soon meets a pair of thieves who appreciate her appetite for mischief, and together they build a life for themselves on the streets of London. However, when Estella befriends fashion legend Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson), she embraces her wicked side to become the raucous and revenge-bent Cruella.

Craig Gillespie's vision behind the camera was great and he really brought his own visual style to the production that was fresher than most of Disney's live-action remakes to date. Tony McNamara and Dana Fox's screenplay was so well-crafted and had surprising nuanced and depth to Cruella's spiral as she embraces her wickedness. There have been some who have compared Joaquin Phoenix's Joker and Emma Stone's Cruella, but I feel the difference lies in Cruella's somewhat moral compass remaining in tact. This film will definitely make you empathise with this anti-heroine, something I was not expecting with this character as its lead.

As this film was set in the height of the fashion industry, Jenny Beavan was superb as the costume designer. She fully embraced the extravagant and bold fashion of 70s London, couple that with the Cruella's manic style and you end up with some truly remarkable and flamboyant costumes.

Emma Stone was brilliant in the titular role - she really delved into the character and she portrayed the role with the perfect balance of confidence and vulnerability. Emma Thompson embodies the Miranda Priestly of this story, cutthroat and wickedly evil Baroness - she brought life every scene she strutted into.

Joel Fry as Jasper Badun and Paul Walter Hauser as Horace Badun were good comic relief, more than just henchmen to Cruella - the trio actually start off as petty thieves as orphaned children and escalate to detailed and planned heists as they got older. This established relationship was much better, making the three a dysfunctional family with their trusted dog sidekicks - the CGI moments were a bit much, some made sense for practical reasons and I was surprised the actual dogs weren't in it as much as you'd usually expect.

John McCrea as Artie: A member of Cruella's entourage and owner of a vintage fashion shop was a breath of fresh air, he gave strong David Bowie vibes. He is the first original character in a live-action Disney film to be openly gay, so this is actual progress in diversity on Disney - not just insinuating or hinting at it. Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Anita and Kayvan Novak as Roger were brilliant casting and cleverly weaved into this prequel - there was also a nice foreshadowing of the recently confirmed sequel.

The origins of Cruella's hair was a bit disappointing - I would have rather the iconic style came with the acceptance of her Cruella persona and losing her Estella innocence, that would have been a much better in my opinion.

This is without a doubt, the strongest Disney retelling. Instead of relying on a word for word adaptation of what we've already seen, Emma Stone's Cruella embraces its creative punk rock world and slightly unhinged protagonist with pride. Surprisingly poignant and dark, I cannot wait for Craig Gillespie and Tony McNamara's upcoming sequel with Stone set to reprise the role.

This film was a solid ★★★★ and definitely a joy to watch in a cinema after such a long wait. I'd highly recommend watching this on the big screen while you can.

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