Random Movie Review - Cruella

So last week, I went to the cinema in what feels like the first time in forever (a little Frozen line for you there 😅) and I saw this film. Now the 101 Dalmatians franchise has had an interesting run with Disney. Like many of their animated features, it was based on a book and the first film was made in the 60s during a time when Walt Disney was still around. It was received reasonably well and helped Disney who were having financial trouble at the time (which is a weird thing to say now considering what they are doing these days) get back on their feet. Then in 1996, Disney went ahead with a live action remake of the original animated film which although not as successful as the animated film (racoons are not native to the UK I might add!!), it received enough attention and award nominations for it to have a sequel and people really liked Glenn Close as the main villain Cruella de Vil (interestingly, she actually likes dogs in real life as opposed to her role). There was also an animated sequel to the original film, but the less we talk about those direct to home media Disney films, the better. Since those days, not much has been happening in the franchise apart from a decent animated series. But with Disney on a live action spin-off/remake rampage and doing an okish job of it, they decided to do a film about everyone's favourite fashionable puppy snatching villain. This really is a spin-off this time unlike the first Maleficent film which was a Sleeping Beauty remake in disguise. Plus its also a prequel as it kind of sets the stage for the original story too. So let's see how this one fares, but fair warning: you will not see dalmatians in quite the same way again after seeing this film:

Estella (played by Emma Stone) was a rebellious child growing up and seemed to have unusual hair, both of which often got her into trouble at school where her only friend was one Anita Darling (played by Kirby Howell-Baptiste). After many trips to the headmaster's office and knowing what job she wants to do, her mother Catherine (played by Emily Beecham) who calls her Cruella, decides to move to London with her. But things take a turn for the worse when she gets attacked by dalmations. Nevertheless, Estella makes it to London and starts living with two local thieves, the dimwitted and angle obsessed Horace Badun (played by Paul Walter Hauser) and the more intelligent and alert Jasper Badun (played by Joel Fry). After years of stealing and getting away, Estella eventually lands a job in a fashion store and soon attracts the attention of a renowned fashion designer and head of a London based fashion house known only as Baroness von Hellman (played by Emma Thompson). She quickly lands a job working for her, before slowly beginning her transformation into the villain we know and love today.

This film, out of all the spin-offs/remakes to Disney's animated films, feels like the work of someone willing to go all out and not try too hard to make it feel like the original film in any way (apart from a few appearances of key characters and of course the dalmations) and that's good. I always think that if someone is making a film like that, they should be prepared to make it the way they want and not let Disney interfere. Sure, it may mean that performance at the box office may be affected, but at least it will feel like someone giving it their all. This film is many things, but what I see it as is a film that kind of reminds me of a lot of Martin Scorsese films and the Godfather trilogy. It's got a great soundtrack, lots of fantastic fashion designs which I expect nothing less of from this film and what I feel is questionable casting, actually works well. Who knew that Stone and Thompson locking horns could work so well, and it even has a twist towards the end. There was also one point where I actually thought it was going to end unresolved, but it ended the way most of us would've expected it to end. Yeah overall, a much better film to be based on a Disney animated film than most of the other films (especially The Lion King, Mulan and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) even if we didn't ask for it at first. 9/10