'Cruella' Review: The Best Disney Remake in Years
Disney’s Cruella offers a visually dynamic and terrifically entertaining villain origin story, with Emma Stone’s best on-screen performance at its core.
After seeing Jon Favreau’s dreadful remake of “The Lion King”, which stripped animated expressivity for faux realism that made its most emotional sequences feel incredibly hollow and caricatural, I was ready to call it quits on Disney remakes. Most (scratch that, all) of them are made with the intent of making as much money as possible, without offering anything new and/or compelling to the viewer. Disney hires known filmmakers, such as Tim Burton, Jon Favreau, or Guy Ritchie, to remake their most-known animated films without an ounce of creativity, a director’s signature touch, and, most importantly, soul. Out of all the Disney remakes that came out in 2019, only one of them was worth watching and wasn’t even released in theatres. That’s right, “Lady and the Tramp” was a wonderful readaptation of the beloved Disney animated classic with a smart script, great vocal performances, and blissful cinematography, which made it a joy to watch. Since it was made specifically for Disney+, it felt like the filmmaker, Charlie Bean, had more creative input.
When the first trailer for Disney’s latest remake, “Cruella”, premiered, the first thought that permeated in my mind was “Oh no,” as it looked like Disney’s version of Todd Phillips’ “Joker”, but with Cruella De Vil, without a compelling reason to draw audiences in. However, within the first few minutes of the movie, something instantly clicked: it looked, felt, and sounded instantly different from any other Disney remake that came before, had a kick-ass late 60s-early 70s soundtrack, and was imbued with an incredibly immersive visual style that I became instantly hooked in its marvelously dynamic world from beginning to end. My eyes widened, and I witnessed the best Disney remake in years, since 2016’s “The Jungle Book”, filled with endless creativity and soul in front and behind the camera.
During the around 30-minute mark, a tracking shot taken straight out of Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” introduces the store Estella (Emma Stone) is now working at, showing the contrast between the “posh” life of buying high-fashioned clothes and the job she is forced to do. This is the exact moment where Craig Gillespie’s “Cruella” will pull you in further than it did before, as it tells the origin story of Estella’s “rise” to Cruella—exacting revenge on Baroness Von Hellman (Emma Thompson), a world-renowned fashion legend, who killed Estella’s mother (Emily Beecham). With the aid of petty thieves Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser), Cruella aims to bring down the Baroness’ fashion empire by constantly crashing her fashion shows, with more exuberant numbers as it goes along. This results in a devilishly entertaining movie, commanded by Emma Stone’s greatest on-screen performance of her career.
Gillespie is mostly known for his 2017 film, “I, Tonya”, but his tenure at Disney started when he directed the 2011 remake of “Fright Night” and made two highly underrated films for the studio: “Million Dollar Arm” and “The Finest Hours”. “Cruella” is, however, his best film yet—directed by someone who has a true understanding of cinema as a visual and aural medium—as he fills the screen with amazingly lush cinematography, which, surprisingly, recalls the didacticism of Stanley Kubrick, the baroque-like compositions of Tim Burton and Scorsese. There hasn’t been a Disney remake, ever, that had this much visual mastery behind the camera. Every sequence pops with insatiable energy, whether it’s the camera movements that create soul-stirring imageries, perfectly complement the many (amazing) needle-drops of its “70s greatest hits” soundtrack, or accompany the expressive actors inside the frame.
Emma Stone has never been better and particularly shines during the scenes where she embodies her “Cruella” persona, chewing up the remarkably sharp script written by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara who never shy away from dealing with mature themes. The PG-13 rating makes for a darker, yes, but a complete exploration of Cruella’s personality, without holding anything back. We see a young child, during the first few minutes of the film, scarred for life as she sees her mother die in front of her and feels deep remorse for her death, who finally gets a chance to “set things right” after she scores a job working for the exact person that murdered her. Her physical and vocal transformation from Estella to Cruella is particularly stark, as her acts become more intricate and the camerawork becomes more frenetic. This is one of the film’s greatest devices: as Estella transforms into Cruella, so does the camera and lighting—with more aggressive and flamboyant visuals to soak our eyes in and become fully immersed in her transformation. Stone may have won an Oscar for her role in “La La Land,” but “Cruella” feels like the role she was born to play, paying respects to the iconic portrayals of Betty Lou Gerson (with her expertly delivered pronunciation of “Anita Darling!”) and Glenn Close (who acts as one of the film’s executive producers).
Emma Thompson is also excellent as the film’s main antagonist: a highly caricatured but evil character who only cares about “Me, Myself and I.” She shares dynamite chemistry with Stone, with one sequence being the film’s highlight. You can feel the tension boiling as the film briskly moves along and culminates in a climax for the ages, paying off every minute detail it has been setting up since its opening sequence. Some of it is obvious, yes, but it never stops delivering. And one of the other reasons why “Cruella” succeeds is in its extraordinary supporting performances of Paul Walter Hauser and Joel Fry who give the film much-needed humanity and earnest humor. Walter Hauser has the best recurring joke of the film and provides many over-the-top Cruella performance sequences with expertly timed slapstick and verbal comedy.
Paul Walter Hauser is one of the finest up-and-coming actors working today who dedicates himself by immersing himself in every role he’s playing. He embodies Horace with a better sense of comedic timing than Mark Williams did in Stephen Herek’s 1996 live-action remake of “101 Dalmatians” and Frederick Worlock’s original voice in the 1961 animated film. The “101 Dalmatians” purists might not like the fact that Cruella retcons the titular character’s relationship with Jasper and Horace. In the previous live-action film (and animated films), she only thinks of them as mere imbeciles or buffoons who never seem to get the job done. In this movie, she’s been friends with them since her childhood and has since become a close-knit family. However, it doesn’t really matter: Jasper and Horace aren’t the “textbook slapstick side villains” anymore and have a much more compelling character arc than they ever dreamed of having in the previous adaptations of Dodie Smith’s novel. Joel Fry’s performance as Jasper is much more emotionally centered and less self-centered than when Hugh Laurie performed him in 1996 or J. Pat O’Malley in 1961. He shares a great on-screen relationship with Emma Stone and Walter Hauser. The duo aren’t bumbling buffoons anymore and are actual human characters with a compelling arc that perfectly complements Estella’s transformation into Cruella and accompany her in her fashion-driven vengeance against The Baroness.
“Cruella” is undoubtedly the surprise of the year. I went in with the lowest possible expectations that it was going to be yet another cash-cow Disney remake without an ounce of creativity and soul on display. Yet, it was anything but that: a visually dynamic, amazingly energetic remake expertly directed by one of the most eclectic filmmakers working today with Emma Stone’s greatest on-screen performance to date. If you’re sick and tired of Disney remakes, I totally get it, but it wouldn’t hurt to give this one a chance when it hits theatres and Disney+ (with Premier Access) on May 28th. You might be pleasantly surprised and clamor for more remakes that don’t fit a pre-conceived structure and bring something fresh and original to the table. If Disney is willing to do more remakes like this one, and less like “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” and/or “Alice in Wonderland”, sign me up because the future could look as bright as ever for the studio.