Cruella review: Disney’s most ambitious (and messy) villain origin story

With blockbuster season rapidly approaching and theater chains across the globe finally finding their footing, Disney is kicking off their summer slate with their first major live-action release since theaters reopened: Cruella. And though it’s bloated and often bumbling in its execution, the film is an ambitious, high fashion reimagining of Disney’s most notorious puppy killer.

Starring Emma Stone as the titular villainess (whose real name is actually Estella), Cruella follows the ambitious aspiring fashion designer as she moves to London and quickly crosses paths with British fashion’s most intimidating figure, The Baroness (Emma Thompson). Though Estella at first admires her and quickly lands a job working at her fashion house, when she finds out The Baroness may have had something to do with her mother’s death, Estella sheds her meek persona to become Cruella – a rival fashion genius. With the help of her loyal thieving sidekicks Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser), Estella/Cruella devises a plan to avenge the death of her mother and topple The Baroness’ crown as the queen of the British fashion industry.

The immediate question that comes to mind when one considers the very existence of this film is the obvious: “Is Disney trying to make us sympathize with a woman whose only goal was to kill and skin a bunch of puppies?” The answer – sort of? What’s strange about Cruella is that like Maleficent before it, it’s not so much a remake as it is a reimagining – a shuffling of the cards that provides the same story from an alternate perspective – in this case, giving Cruella a much more significant backstory to explain her affinity for dalmatians.

It’s odd, though, because even two hours and fifteen minutes later, the audience is still left in the dark as to when she made the jump from aspiring fashion designer to maniacal puppy killer – because although she comes close to killing a few Dalmatians in the movie, she doesn’t actually hurt any animals. This raises some interesting continuity and story questions if Cruella is to be viewed as a prequel to 101 Dalmatians – because it doesn’t change any facts of the film, just gives them a much more complicated, often tedious backstory.

Speaking of her backstory, Cruella’s is a doozy – at times so unhinged and off the rails that you can’t help but laugh at the leaps in logic one has to take to fully be on board with the narrative the film is trying to sell you. Much of this incredulity comes from Cruella’s relationship with the intimidating Baroness, whom she simultaneously idolizes and despises. There are certainly elements to the relationship that work – a sort of Devil Wears Prada dynamic that makes it easy to fundamentally understand who both of the characters are as women.

However, just when the film has set itself up substantially enough to carry the rest of the plot, Cruella needlessly tacks on more and more unnecessary backstory and fluff. The ideas surrounding Cruella’s relationship with the Baroness go from grounded to bonkers at breakneck speed, and though the plot itself fits straight in with classic Disney backstories, it’s entirely ridiculous in the context of the rest of the film.

Cruella also struggles to trim the fat when it comes to the supporting cast – of which there are far too many players for a film that could stand to lose a good fifteen minutes or so. The Bowie-inspired clothier Artie (John McCrea) is charming though entirely unnecessary, given that Cruella herself possesses the ability to sew and design all her own garments. Also strangely tacked on is Mark Strong’s John – a walking talking pile of exposition whose literal only role in the film is to tell Cruella about her secret hidden past and then disappear entirely.

The film is much more successful, though, in its handling of the four characters we know from the original 101 Dalmatians: Heroes Roger (Kayvan Novak) and Anita (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), and Cruella’s sidekicks Jasper and Horace. Roger and Anita play more tertiary roles, but the film honors the original and sticks to the story that Cruell and Anita are old friends from school. Jasper and Horace, however, are given much more substance – Jasper (Joel Fry) is especially compelling, and perhaps the film’s most interesting character beyond Cruella herself.

Fry brings remarkable charm and depth into what could easily have been a forgettable role, and more than holds his own when playing straight man to the comedic cockney charms of Paul Walter Hauser’s Horace. Fry also has remarkable chemistry with Stone – so much so that we wish the film would’ve spent a little more time working on their relationship, considering just how well it works in the snippets we get. The decision to sideline Roger and Anita (who, in the film, are working as a lawyer and a journalist respectively) is a smart one considering just how much Cruella has on its plate already, but we also wish they hadn’t downplayed Anita’s role in the film considering how more plot-integral her character could’ve been.

Outside of solely story beats, though, much of what makes Cruella memorable (for better or for worse) is its sense of aesthetics – the cinematography, the costumes, the frequent needle drops, and the hair and makeup choices. The film’s identity is boisterous, often self-obsessed, and a little too on-the-nose, but we found ourselves remarkably charmed by Cruella‘s willingness to put it all out there and see what works. The costumes – heavily inspired by the work of iconic British punk icon Vivienne Westwood – are stunning, and should hopefully nab some trophies come awards season.

Less successful, though, is the film’s choice of soundtrack – which is filled with plenty of recognizable tunes, just not enough that fit with the film itself. Given Cruella‘s understanding of the significance of British punk style in its costumes and makeup design, one would hope that the film shares the same reverence when it comes to British punk music – but unfortunately, Cruella constantly misses the mark.

The soundtrack isn’t particularly cohesive or even relevant to the film – it should be a who’s-who of British punk bands from the 60s and 70s, but instead, half the soundtrack is made up of American funk artists. It’s a bizarre choice that makes us question the film’s taste level and overall understanding of the story it’s trying to tell – but a forgivable sin when held in contrast to the stunning achievements in makeup and costuming.

One part Devil Wears Prada, one part Ocean’s 11, one part Thomas Crowne Affair and – yes – one part Joker, Cruella is a bold, in-your-face attempt at redefining the legacy of one of Disney’s most deliciously evil characters. Though the story may not entirely hold up as a villain origin or even as a retelling of a classic, there’s enough charisma and guts to Cruella to make it an entertaining endeavor that’s well worth the price of admission.

Are you planning to see Cruella? Sound off in the comments.