So I’ve seen a lot of reviews and thoughts on this movie that were either moderately positive or high praising and I honestly feel like I must’ve watched something else cause this wasn’t good.
Yes there are some amazing elements. The Emmas. Stone and Thompson are great in the film unsurprisingly, and both play their characters perfectly for the world the movie creates. Stone plays the titular character with so much flare and energy that at no point when she’s on screen does the film become a bore. Thompson also gives a great performance as a ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ lite evil fashion villain. The side characters were all pretty fun too and added some fun humour to the film. The costume design is out of this world too, anything and everything Cruella wears in this movie is so detailed and well crafted. Especially in the sequences where she crashes the Baronesses different parties, every dress was a spectacle and a delight on screen.
However this movie as a whole is a mess. I thought the first act was terrible and then it started to get better and then it devolved into an awful third act. For starters the screenplay feels hollow and lacks the courage to commit to Cruella being a bad person or even an anti-hero, at the end she’s a full on hero. Now this isn’t to say I needed to see a movie about a puppy murderer but it seems strange that this apparently unhinged person (which I’ll get to) gets to have a redemption arc and is the saviour at the end.
This links to the character progression of Cruella, it’s so unevenly paced and rushed that it feels unearned. We start with her mum telling her not to be Cruella and let that side of her take over, then when the Baroness kills her mother and she escapes to London she’s obviously upset and this Cruella side starts to boil but she meets the thieves and we cut to her now living with them robbing people. This Cruella side of her seems to have subsided and, despite her committing crimes, she’s stable and a good person. Then she gets her job and finds out the Baroness killing her mother and suddenly the switch flips and she’s full Cruella, which apparently means being a bad friend and acting extremely obnoxious.
Yes I understand that the trauma and pain would come rushing back but her personality does a 180 and it’s not written in a believable way. The acts she commits on the Baroness makes sense but the way she treats everyone around her feels out of character. But then all this treating people bad stuff vanished after one conversation with Jasper and she decides to not kill the Baroness and big the bigger person. But then also ‘killing’ the bigger person, Estella, and letting Cruella live. Look I totally get what they were going for here but all the elements didn’t mesh at all to make a compelling arc.
Aside from the writing I thought the editing was also hit or miss. The headline graphics were really smart when Cruella was crashing the Baroness’s parties but in the first act there were numerous bad cuts and weird zooms. There’s also parts that just feel lifeless or unnecessary, there’s a cool one take shot that travels around the shop and shows Cruella at the bottom of the shop. The sequence is around a minute long and does nothing bar showing us Cruella is at the bottom. The shot follows random people and doesn’t tell us anymore about the place or the people who work there, it feels lazy and a waste. Not to mention it was shot poorly.
The other unforgivable sin this film commits, is it’s egregious use of needle drops. I’ll admit I’m not normally a massive fan of needle drops in films unless they’re done well and fit the story, let alone having nearly 101 of them in one film. Guardians of the Galaxy is a great example of where needle drops work, it’s tied to the world and often the story, this movie is an example of where it doesn’t. Playing a 60s or 70s pop song every 5 minutes for no reason other than to remind the audience the time period is bland and uninteresting. This is especially annoying since the film is scored by Nicholas Britell, who is one of the modern-day composers and his talents are wasted on this film. The one scene where the score is prominent where Cruella is talking to the fountain after finding out the Baroness is her mother is one of the best in the film and the score enhances it. It made me sad cause the film could’ve used the score to elevate the film instead of shoving another pop song down your throat.
My opinion is that if you’re not sure if you want to watch this movie, don’t. The Disney live-action re-imaginations are still not great and this can be added to the list of those movies whose only mission is to line the pockets of executives.
Also the CGI dogs were ruff.
★★
