Many idioms out of Hollywood that has remained constant over the years, and one immediately comes to mind when thoughts turn to Disney’s Cruella. Remember this one? If the actors on the screen are having fun, so too will the audience. That is absolutely the case with this live-action origins story for one of the Mouse House’s most notorious and beloved villains, Cruella de Vil.
Emma Stone is mesmerizing as the titular character. Through her dual performance as Estella and then Cruella, she humanizes this woman that sought to make a dalmatian coat in 101 Dalmatians by snuffing out some adorable little pups. Pretty impressive for viewers to find an affinity with anyone who is going to “grow up” and try everything to get that coat! But not everyone is Stone. The Oscar winner (for La La Land) has an incomparable ability to capture our collective affirmative attention from the get-go, no matter the part.
After all, remember The Favourite? Stone wasn’t exactly the finest of souls in that story of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman). One could certainly make the case that one of the reasons that Olivia Colman won a Best Actress Oscar was partially due to her tete-a-tete with Stone’s Abigail.
In Cruella, Stone gets to go full-villain. She (and we) have a ball. Besides witnessing Stone “go bad,” Disney’s latest has a full myriad of elements, making it an absolute delight to recommend.
Emma Thompson’s The Baroness could easily have been labeled a “villain” had the film not had the moniker it does possess. The Oscar winning actress channels her best Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada in that her character is a fashion designer who runs her house like a dictatorship. Witnessing two Emmas, both Oscar winners, go at it for just over two hours is the definition of a delight.
It is easy to compare her to Streep’s Miranda Priestly from Devil, but Thompson carves out the most unique of turns as The Baroness. Sure, they’re in the same ballpark, but each delivers a wildly different ethos. The Baroness is one of the world’s most in-demand designers for her flawless collections in the finicky world of fashion, an astonishing achievement. She sees something in Estella and immediately takes her under her wing. For the aspiring fashion designer, the future could not seem brighter.
Director Craig Gillespie smartly took Dana Fox and Tony McNamara’s script and let it breathe. Proof of that pudding arrives almost immediately. A young Estella is dropped off at an orphanage by her mother. Those years efficiently go by and before we know it tween Estella (Tipper Seifert-Cleveland) has evolved into Stone’s Estella. Without heaps of exposition, the audience acutely knows Cruella’s motivations and, more importantly, an understanding of why she does what she does.
Growing up an unadoptable orphan has molded Estella into an adult who hasn’t met a scam she doesn’t love. Early on, she meets Jasper and Horace and instantly, they’re an undividable trio. The boys, plus Estella, grifts with expertly laid mini-heist plans. It is uncanny. It is here where her sense the devilishness has its beginnings. De Vil has a knack for wanting something and simply taking it with her mates.
What is so riveting about Cruella is how it is so bloody unpredictable. Fox and McNamara’s script is rich on a multitude of levels and as such, finds audiences at the edge of their seats, much like a reader who always has a hand at the ready to turn the page. The creative duo has come up with the most original of tales for one of the world’s most identifiable characters—a titanic endeavor, to say the least. Meanwhile, the duo has crafted players, up and down the cast list, who are three-dimensional, raw and whose motives couldn’t be more crystal clear.
Gillespie has taken that script and not only brought it to life but in the process has created the gold standard for cinematic backstories that a few decades ago, might have seemed like a fool’s errand. The selection of an Australian helmer who has delivered for Disney in the past in the forms of Million Dollar Arm and Finest Hours is wickedly intelligent. His greatest gift to audiences is absolutely his latest. Gillespie is an actor’s director as we can see from the performances elicited by everyone from the Emmas through to Mark Strong’s John the Valet. His greatest gift with Cruella must be how he managed to put Disney’s latest live-action adaptation from their animated classics as a study of ego and the dangerous fragility of having everything you want, yet still craving more.
Cruella, at its core, is a tale of revenge and that fits the legend that is de Vil like a pair of Ferragmo gloves. As certain things are revealed subtly as the minutes go by, one can see ever so slightly how the titular character is driven by certain aspects and unfazed by others.
Stone and Thompson are two peas in one wicked pod. Witnessing the legendary actresses in a thespian verbal volleyball while they massage their powerplay game is something you want a front row seat to experiencing. Each outplays the other, only to have the other raise the stakes and take Cruella ever higher. The winner here is the audience.
It is downright shocking how devilishly delightful Cruella is to experience. It’s score by Nicholas Britell is as intricate as it is bombastic and intimate. The sonic succulence is enhanced by the timely inclusion of thirty-plus rock songs of the era from commencing the film with Supertramp’s Bloody Well Right, plus toss in some Queen Stone Cold Crazy, Should I Stay or Should I Go by The Clash and Five to One by the Doors
Cruella rocks… literally. It is such a nice touch by Gillespie to not only have an orchestral score enhancing the emotive tether between audience and onscreen players, but to also frame the action and drama with a cornucopia of hit songs. For example, when one hears Blondie’s One Way or Another, you just know that somebody is trying to get away with something. The music supervisor, Susan Jacobs, deserves a raise!
There is no question that Thompson is one of our most versatile actresses working today. That aptitude is on full display in Cruella. She’s simultaneously commanding and cruel as much as she is vulnerable and insightful. Her performance as The Baroness will easily go down in the history books as one of her most viciously vivacious. As the truth of the situation begins to come together for The Baroness, her response may surprise many.
Stone continues her hot streak that truthfully began over a decade ago with a little movie called Easy A, and lest we forget Zombieland which came just prior! This is a priceless opportunity to play a villain, and, for starters, sport some designer duds that a character from all those years ago would wear.
Casting Stone as de Vil is a stroke of genius. Everybody loves Emma and that attribute is something that cannot be directed, coached, or “fixed in post.” That is precisely why she is a 20/20 vision of perfection. There are numerous moments that may seem like bedlam incarnate. Yet with the pierce precision performance of Stone, it comes off as an exquisitely choreographed chaos.
It would have been easy for either actress to “chew scenery.” Yet, each turns in a refined performance that is razor-sharp. One has to love a Disney movie where both the main protagonists are really our antagonists. This is not a battle of who will win. When all is said and done, this is a war over who is the evilest.
In a way, Maleficent and its sequel never quite did that. They made Angelina Jolie’s title character somewhat likable and affable. In turn, we felt for her. We feel for Estella (Cruella) and her situation. Her backstory is tragic and made even more powerful as the film progresses. Meanwhile, The Baroness is pure evil. She will step on anyone in order to get what she wants. The Baroness treats employees like trash. But all stay loyal because she is a genius. Working for her brings an incredible amount of clout—even if it is marinated with frequent blatant abuse.
The supporting cast is sublime. Danny Boyle’s Yesterday breakout star Joel Fry plays Jasper and Paul Walker Hauser (who should have been nominated for an Oscar for Richard Jewell) is Horace. Strong’s portrayal of a loyal servant to Thompson’s The Baroness finds the veteran actor is right at home in this environment.
The script by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara is taut. There’s that usual second to third act lull that is not really a pause in the action if you think about it. It more is of a chance for us, the audience, to gear up for the frenetic finale mentally and physically. Our beloved characters are digging in their heels and readying themselves to bring it with the final push of the film.
Director Gillespie (I, Tonya, and Disney’s Million Dollar Arm) has had the most extraordinary pressure pushed upon him to deliver an origins story. But also, a cinematic experience that can stand on its own. Cruella successfully does both.
The fashion and costume design is out of this world. It’s fitting to reflect the original film, 101 Dalmatians. Cruella takes that envelope and rips it wide open. If costume designer Jenny Beavan (The King’s Speech) doesn’t earn an Oscar nomination for this phenomenal effort, then it is an absolute crime of the highest cinematic order. The clothes pop. Barely has black and white been so usefully utilized to convey emotion, tone, and of course, evil and good, dark and light, and right and wrong.
Cruella goes from being the story of an orphan who blames herself for her mother’s death, to a widely scoped journey of revenge and the search for ultimate justice.
All involved deserve a standing ovation for the uncanny tasks they achieved bringing a Disney villain stalwart an origins story worth her weight. Cruella sits in the lexicon of not only top Disney villains, but the great movie baddies. It was only fitting that Cruella’s rival was Thompson’s Baroness. She was equally as vicious, cold-blooded, and crafty as Cruella. Never count the firecracker out. She has tricks up her sleeves. Actually, she always has tricks up her sleeves. Witnessing Thompson and Stone go it at is an enormous part of how fantastic Cruella is, but it’s like a complicated table puzzle.
Cruella will go down as one of the great new swaths of Disney live-action movies based on their incredible, legendary, and vast animated library. This is also a film that stands on its own. The fact that it has a direct connection to one of Walt Disney’s most cherished films, well then… all the better.
Grade: A