Now for a choice. Either pay $30 for Cruella on Disney Plus or $9.50 for a movie theater ticket in a still spooky world. Maybe it wasn't much of a choice; I went with the less expensive option.
Cruella, of course, is Cruella de Vil, the fashionista who wanted to make fur coats out of those 101 Dalmatians in Dodie Smith's novel and Disney's prior versions. It's Emma Stone's turn to turn her hair black and white.
Cruella was once Estella Miller, a schoolgirl with a wicked side named … Cruella. Her mom, Catherine (Emily Beecham) met her end by the guard Dalmatians of the wealthy Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson). Estella escapes to London with her puppy, Buddy, and meets pickpockets Jasper and Horace (Jordan Fry and Paul Walter Hauser as adults) and their chihuahua, Wink. Years later, they busy themselves with grifts disguised as honest work.
Estella finds honest work at a Department Store. One drunken night gets her a job with the Baroness herself. The prestige isn't worth the Baroness's abuse, though. She even finds her mom's necklace on the Baroness. So she takes up the name Cruella once again to upstage the Baroness. It becomes more vicious when she learns the Baroness directly caused her mom's death. Then she gets a surprise...
Five names, including Dana Fox and Tony McNamara on the screenplay itself, have writing credits. There's some logical question presented here. First, how old are the dogs? We see Buddy age from puppy to adult over ten years. But the Dalmatians look no older than they did in the prologue. Second, we see Estella fully embrace the Cruella name at the end. But how does she become the fur-obsessed fashionista prior versions depict her as? The film depicts her as the sort who wouldn't kill puppies. At least some other prequels end with a clear direction to the present. Let's see what a sequel says.
I can say its villain is great. The Baroness is hilariously petty and vain; she'll throw anyone out just for accidentally upstaging her. Anyone who tries to accidentally upstage her get her worst. Her directing the Dalmatians to kill Catherine is villainous on its own. But then we learn her true connection with Cruella. That's when the film truly gets creepy. You'll remember her as much as Cruella from the original films.
Stone is great as Cruella's two halves. One half is a sympathetic young woman trying to survive, and the other half is a confident woman with a devious mind. Both are likable characters. Cruella tests her audience sympathy by mistreating Horace and Jasper. But she comes through in the end. We're in shock with her as she learns of her past. And we're in awe as she outsmarts the Baroness. Again, how will they explain the plot of 101 Dalmatians in a sequel?
Now for the supporting cast. Horace and Jasper are Cruella's likable moral anchors and sidekicks. Buddy and Wink are great dog sidekicks. John (Mark Strong), the Baroness's butler, proves himself a great father figure for Cruella. There's also Anita (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Roger (Kayvan Novak), the future owners of the 101 Dalmatians. Both are OK supporting characters.
The technical star of the film is costume designer Jenny Beavan. Her wardrobe for Cruella and the Baroness is massive and elaborate. One standout is the cloak Cruella sets on fire in her debut. The makeup and hairstyling department gives Estella and Cruella striking dos and the Baroness massive wigs. Production Designer Fiona Crombie visualizes the imposing Hellman Hall and the stylish 70s London it inhabits. Nicolas Karakatsanis's cinematography is good, but the long take inside the Department Store threatened to make me dizzy. There is a score by Nicholas Britell but you'll notice the set list of oldies even more.
No comments:
Post a Comment