THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Walt Disney Pictures is at a point where we’re supposed to like every character onscreen, which includes characters that were originally depicted as villains. While it seemingly worked for Maleficent, I’m not sure if it entirely worked for Cruella.
PLOT
The 2021 film follows an origin story whereas her birth name was Estella and she was born with black & white hair. Her mother Catherine saw her potential due to her creativity with fashion but due to her rebellious nature in school, she decides to pull her out so they can move to London. They first go to a gala where she hopes to get a loan from her former employer. Estella makes the mistake of not staying in the car, deciding to look at the gala. When she gets caught, she is chased by Dalmatians but when she is able to hide from them, they seemingly push Catherine off the cliff. Now alone, she lives with two young hermits named Horace and Jasper. Throughout the rest of their lives, they get by as petty criminals. She would then keep her identity secret by hiding her natural hair with a red wig. As an adult, Jasper was able to get her a job at a fashion designer’s store, House of Baroness, ran by Baroness Von Hellman. Sadly, she gets hired as a janitor rather than getting her aspired career to design dresses. Upset, she gets so drunk one night that she redesigns a window display. While this should get her fired, Baroness is instead impressed of it and hires her to design for her. Despite enjoying working for her idol, she discovers her wearing a necklace that belonged to Catherine. She plots with Horace and Jasper to steal it back during a gala. During that night, she embraces her unapologetic alter ego to not be recognized by Baroness. However, they discover her to be wearing the necklace which backfires the opportunity to take it from a vault. The boys improvise by releasing rats during the party, so that their friend can steal it without anyone noticing. When Baroness summons a whistle for her Dalmatians, Cruella recognizes it as the same one she heard before Catherine fell; This means that she is truly responsible for her mother’s death. She loses the necklace when fleeing, resulting in one of the three Dalmatians swallowing it. After kidnapping all three of them the next day, her new plot of revenge is to upstage Baroness with her over the top and stylish outfits. She recruits Artie (John McCrea) to design the outfits whereas her childhood friend Anita Darling (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) writes articles of her as a gossip columnist, to spread her publicity. She even sabotages one of her fashion shows by making a dress out of moths, resulting in her getting attention for her own show at Regent’s Park. When she deduces who Cruella is, she has Horace & Jasper arrested while attempting to leave her employee for dead in a fire. However, the latter is saved by her valet John. When she recovers, he shares the truth of her heritage: Baroness is her biological mother and when she gave birth to her, she demanded him to kill her so she can focus on nothing but her career. Unable to do it, John chose to have Catherine raise her in secret. He also shows Estella that the necklace held a key to a box containing her birth certificate that confirms what he said. The revelation puts her in a spiral where she ends up fully accepting her persona as Cruella. She than breaks Horace & Jasper out of prison, apologizing for accepting them as family until now. After amends were made, she recruits them and Artie for one last scheme against Baroness. At a charity gala, everyone dresses in black & white which enrages their foe and confuses security. Cruella embraces Estella for the last time when confronting her mother. She shares her identity which surprises her but she decides to push her off the cliff like she technically did to Catherine, rather than accepting her. However, everyone attending witnessed what happened after Cruella’s allies guided them outside. This does get her arrested, but Cruella survived the fall due to having a parachute under her dress. She is able to trick everyone that Estella and Cruella are different people. With Baroness arrested, the family fortune is inherited by Cruella de Vil (last name inspired by Panther De Ville) per Estella’s will. Once she moves in to Hell(man) Hall, she claims to have more ideas in mind of what she wants to do next. The film ends in a post credit scene where she donates two Dalmatians to people she knows: a female named Perdita to Anita and a male named Pongo to Baroness’ former lawyer Roger Radcliffe (Kayvan Novak). The friendly gesture inspires Roger to write a song about her.
THOUGHTS
I admit that I was excited to see this film due to the love I’ve had for past adaptations of 101 Dalmatians. While retelling a classic may have worked out for Maleficent, it doesn't exactly work out here as it's supposed to. I think director Craig Gillepsie gave an interesting approach for turning an iconic villain into an anti hero, but I also don't think that execution is perfect. I am not entirely onboard with it because we know what this character is going to do, since this is depicted as somewhat of a prequel to the original story; It's almost as if we're supposed to condone that this character is going to skin dalmatians for her clothing line. She may have not done it in this film, but that doesn't mean she would never. I do understand it's attempt to tell audiences to embrace what makes you different, but it's done in such a bizarre style that it's hard to find it earning. Aside from that, there were multiple things from the story that don't make sense to me. First off, why are the dalmatians depicted as hounds? This does defend the character's motivation to do what she was known for but in my experience, those dogs are not like that at all and I feel like something could've been done different to make a better connection. Also, why doesn't security gang up on Cruella during the gala heist? She doesn't have powers, so it was really dumb for them to try one at a time. Am I the only one that thought stealing the dalmatians was way too easy to do? I know that we need to raise the tension, but abducting three dogs should've appeared just as difficult as the gala heist. I normally enjoy narration but the longer it went on, the more that element overstayed its welcome. Had it simmered down, I would've enjoyed it more. Like I don't believe Cruella when she says she felt she belonged when visiting a ball as a child because if she did, she would've been welcomed openly by everyone in attendance. If she wanted to say inspired, she could've just said that. I also wonder how quick did she put on her makeup after faking her death. I mean that was a heavy time jump, considering that she had to show up before authorities took Baroness into custody. I'm not saying that I want to see it play out in actual time but they condensed the ending heavily, becoming a lot to take. Of all the weird things to see in the opening, it is how an adult in Cruella's school doesn't do shit when a bully shoots a spitball at her. If he did, we should've seen it to prove the school had some sort of effort putting up with her rebellious attitude. I even found it odd how she didn't even wear a matching uniform when starting to work with Baroness. It trips me out because it's not like she is giving special treatment for her to hold onto her individuality. I even kept screaming 'Bruh' when John opens the secret safe in front of Estella. I know we need to set up Cruella being embraced, but it's like Baroness wanted to be robbed. Another takeaway from the failed heist is that it could've been a success if they waited at least a month. That necklace wasn't going anywhere and since there were multiple fashion shows, they would always have a distraction at hand. I know Cruella wants to get even, but patience is another key to success. What was even more unbelievable was how a server was so focused on his own task he didn't notice Jasper remove the lid. I gotta wonder if that guy was well trained or just plain stupid. You think I didn't find continuity errors? Well I know I'm not the only one that noticed Cruella's getaway car driver seat was on the left, when it's supposed on the right in the UK. You had one job being accurate to the times and you blew it. It even gets weirder for the dog spa to call Baroness only an hour after her dogs got abducted. That has to be the worst spa ever to take that long. And how did the police not have a lead on Cruella whenever she made a scene at every fashion show? They literally could've followed her when she left in a dump truck. If they weren't there, then these cops are as dumb as the servers. And lastly, I did not like how they forced her connection to Roger. It was clever with Anita but welcome was overstayed when giving him a Dalmatian. They weren't actual friends, so I don't see the point of her passing kindness to him. Yes the Baroness was cruel to him, but that didn't feel enough for me to say they have a strong connection. The reason that these things can get ignored so easily is because of the incredible performance by Emma Stone. Like her predecessors, she makes the titular character her own and you enjoy every second of it. As Estella, she expresses her ambition with her passion to be involved with the fashion. But it's as Cruella where you're in awe seeing her become as relentless as the world had been to her. On top of that, she rocks every costume that is displayed. Again, embracing what makes you different is the big theme that sells the movie, along with ignoring whatever negativity comes your way. She may be the star, but I can admit that other actors impressed me in this movie as well. Baroness was the true villain and thanks to another great performance by Emma Thompson, she's more hateful than expected. You will love to hate her every second due to her over the top act of selfishness/narcissism. And when she gets sent to jail for such, there is no shame to say 'Good riddance'. I truly believe that Paul Walter Hauser and Joel Fry were a great pair of Horace and Jasper. They were so entertaining together because they show how their characters may not be the brightest, yet still be more insightful than others would think. You even respect them for taking Cruella in when others likely wouldn't. When thinking about Mark Strong, I thought he was fine being an unsung hero for saving someone who deserved better. If John was there for more than just expositing the twist, I likely would've appreciated the character more than I'm supposed to. To wrap up, Cruella is an interesting story that isn't perfect but still finds a way to keep you invested. If you got Disney+ and love fashion or the 101 Dalmatians franchise, check this out when you can.
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