Cruella: Film Review

Cast: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Michael Hauser, Mark Strong

Director: Craig Gillespie

There's a vampish, punk-filled energy to fuel much of the first hour of Cruella, a film that, at times, feels far from the Disney fold as it could.

A powerhouse performance from Emma Stone as Estella / Cruella elevates the film, set in 1970s London where an orphaned Estella falls in with a couple of street grifters  Jasper and Horace (Fry, excellent throughout, but overshadowed by a more showy performance from Richard Jewell's Hauser).

A frustrated wannabe fashionista, Estella is given a chance to be part of the Baroness fashion world, overseen by Emma Thompson's queen bitch. (Yes, there are elements of The De-Vil Wears Prada and the student usurps the master here). But when Estella falls foul of the Baroness' selfishness, her "bit of an extreme side" comes out...

Sure, there is a little of the "Maleficent-is-just-misunderstood" ethos that became prevalent with Disney making background stories for their villains, and it's a shame that those in charge never fully commit to the idea of Cruella being bad and embrace it in their revenge story.

But with a film that's so gorgeously stylish, so sumptuously costumed, draped in a thrilling aesthetic and so well cast in its leads, it almost doesn't matter. 

From a sublime 70s soundtrack to some truly wondrous costuming, Cruella is brash, ballsy and a little bit brilliant in its first hour when it really matters. More a celebration of  Brit punk fashion and London vibes than a deep look at Cruella's malignant creation, Cruella has a barnstorming first hour that makes you remember why cinema is so blow-the-doors-down brilliant. 

Packed with gusto, energy and just a vibrant joie de vivre, it's all centred by Stone's turn. Channeling the kind of star power and screen presence she easily held in Easy A, this is head and shoulders one of her best performances, usurping Emma Thompson's more villainous Baroness with ease. Her Cruella is a little more nuance, even if early on, it's played a little more like a fight between dominant personalities struggling within her psyche.(Yes, there are Joker parallels a-plenty).

Cruella suffers from being overly long, with the punkish energy and montages of Cruella stealing the limelight proving to be the glue between some of the more rote edges of the wannabe darker-edged script, but there's honestly a lot to love about this style-over-substance outing from Disney.

Around the halfway mark, the film begins to lose some of its lust for life, and the script struggles to really justify the full-blown transformation that occurs and the tonal whiplash becomes a little jarring. (Equally, Mark Strong is viciously sidelined in a film that would have benefited from more of his mellifluous tones and screen presence).

Ultimately, Cruella may be a film of two halves, but it's saved by the sheer energy of its opening acts. Packed with bluster and bravado, it makes the film a must-see on the big screen for its first 60 minutes alone - and thankfully, Stone and Thompson give their leading ladies the edge and the sass to make this an at times, Dev-il-ish treat.