Rating: A-
It’s clear that we’re going to just be living in a world where Disney mines their classic material for the purposes of chasing those dollars. The live action remake trend has gone on so long that I’ve simply gotten used to this idea conceptually. No sense fighting the tide, especially when the tide is controlled by a corporation that could, at this point, buy out the entire kingdom of God without the expense being more than a blip on their annual reports. Doesn’t matter how much we complain about the lack of originality, these movies pull in so much money that a torrent of tweets expressing disdain will never be enough to move the needle.
And while it’s true that many of these movies have been pretty good, the lack of originality is still something worth talking about. It doesn’t matter how technically impressive these movies are, or even how enjoyable they might be, when the question lingering in the back the audience’s mind is, simply, “Why?” Yes, seeing Emma Watson as Belle was fun and, yes, she did an amazing job. But what did Beauty and the Beast bring to the table that Beauty and the Beast hadn’t already brought two decades prior?
Which might explain why Cruella is just so darn fun. Disney’s latest attempt at mining their history for modern dollars blessedly arrives with a new take and doesn’t rest its laurels on rehashing something we’ve loved for generations. Perhaps it’s because the Mouse House already made a live action remake of 101 Dalmatians back in 1996, which featured a deliciously campy Glenn Close as Cruella DeVil. This certainly gives them the freedom to play around a bit and create something entirely new out of the totally familiar.
In the process of celebrating that newness, Cruella becomes the best of Disney’s live action remakes yet made, offering us a fresh take on the characters, world, and situations that we all grew up knowing by heart. It’s not only fresh, it’s fantastic, bold, fun, and, despite all appearances, entirely original.
Exploring the origins of everyone’s favorite dog-hating fashionista, Cruella follows its titular character (Emma Stone) and her rise from street orphan to petty criminal to queen of London fashion. Her rise to power means going head to head against fashion’s reigning queen, The Baroness (Emma Thompson), a woman who has more than a few dirty tricks and secrets up her sleeves.
Director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) approaches the story with a sense of style and pizzazz that is immediately engrossing. While admittedly Cruella flounders somewhat in the first act, it’s never not fun to watch and once it finds its feet becomes an engrossing origin story. Not unlike Maleficent, Cruella recasts its notorious villain in a sympathetic light, showing us how she became the cruel and calculated fashionista we first saw in 101 Dalmatians.
Stone appears to revel in the opportunity, playing the character of Stella/Cruella with a malicious glee that recalls some of the more family friendly portrayals of the Joker. There’s a delicious camp quality to her portrayal, which re-envisions Cruella as something of a glam punk icon, that is impossibly delightful and fun. The 1960s-70s backdrop provides ample opportunity for the costume designers to play around in, enhancing the sense that Stone is having the time of her life as this notorious villainess.
The setting also gives us plenty of amazing needle drops that pepper the film. While none of the songs on the film’s soundtrack are deep cuts, the collection assembled for the film is as fantastic a collection of basic songs from the era as you could want, with each one outdoing the last to create a wonderful compilation that only enhances the film’s fun.
One would hope that this is the sort of direction Disney will take on any and all of their live action remakes moving forward. Not only does Cruella live up to its source material, it fundamentally adds to the mythos in a meaningful way, allowing us a chance to view the classic character from a new perspective. It might not be what you think of when you consider what the traditional Disney magic is, but there’s no denying that this has a magic of its own.
Cruella is now playing in theaters everywhere and is available to rent via Disney+.
