The release of Disney’s newest instalment in re-creating and re-envisioning iconic characters from the Disney / Marvel / Star Wars universes prompted little more than an eye roll and shrug of the shoulders from me. Zeroing in on the backstory of Cruella De Vil with the super-likeable Hollywood gal Emma Stone at the reigns may have conjured the excitement of nostalgia and enthusiasm of newness for some, but the reaction that I just couldn’t shake was the same reaction many of us have had in the past few years or so of an abundant number of adaptions and spin offs, that reaction being: why?
Why must we keep re-making the same stories, over and over again, each one just a little bit more woke than the last? Why must we be so concentrated on the same characters, re-inventing them every few years instead of creating new ones? And why must be recycle and re-imagine ideas that expired decades ago, milking storylines and backstories until the teat is limp and the milk is sour? Why can’t we make new stories?
Disney’s 2021 Cruella both provokes and attempts to answer these questions. And perhaps choosing an infamous Disney villain and giving her a backstory that explains the who and the why is as innovative as Disney is going to get with their spinoffs right now. But I do have to admit, in regard to Cruella, as much as I’m hungry for a new story, I’m not mad about what they tried to do here.
Directed by Craig Gillespie in all of his misunderstood-women-who-have-been-maligned-by-the-society-that-made-them glory (Gillespie also directed I, Tonya), Cruella gives us an original take of the backstory of the dog-skinning anti-hero, a take that feels less like a prequel to a story we all know the general premise of, and more like the personal history of a character that we’ve only just met. It surprised me just how original and unique this film felt from its Disney counterparts, from the punk-rock revolution of 1970s London to the critique of #Girlboss culture in the fashion industry, to dialogue and jokes that were actually funny. The soundtrack was incredible, the fashion splendid, and the leading actors were ones that are severely recognisable to cinemagoers of most generations. These elements tried to provide a necessary, albeit a very smart, edge that allowed the film to function with the pop-culture nods and underpinning intellect in the dialogue that engaged an audience older than toddlers and schoolchildren. And it worked.
The very British humour, along with an ensemble of misfit characters and very cute dogs, balanced the wit of the film between the relatable struggle of class war in an industry as snobby and exclusive as fashion, along with the more fantastical parts of the plot that forced us to suspend our disbelief in the face of dogs behaving with human-like personality and an Anna Wintour-esque fashion icon playing designer by day, murderous psychopath by night. To top this off was an absolutely phenomenal cast with Emma Stone, Emma Thompson and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as the leading ladies. The two starring Emmas worked especially well alongside each other, bouncing off the other with their snappy pace and quick wit.
Stone played Cruella De Vil with the immense colour and depth required for an infamous villain, painting her less as the trope of the archetypal dog-hating wicked woman, and more of a woman scarred by trauma and brimming with ambition. But with Cruella’s story now told and her character now explained, the role of the villain seemed to shift from one wicked woman to the next. Emma Thompson’s character, known only as The Baroness, unfortunately claims this title, and now that Cruella is one to root for, The Baroness is positioned as the one to boo. Must we malign one woman so to lift up another?
Cruella surpassed my expectations and made me hate Disney a little less for all the remaking and reinventing they feel the need to do. I’d still love to see some new characters, rather than just re-imaginings of old ones, but I must say of the two Emmas and director Gillepsie, bravo.
Cruella by Craig Gillepsie 4/5
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