‘Cruella’: A Disney-fied Product That Isn’t As Dark or Gritty As it Believes Itself to Be [Review]

A movie like “Cruella” isn’t as edgy as it thinks it is. It’s a Disney-friendly take on what should have been very dark and disturbing material. Overdriven by a soundtrack infused with pop songs from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, director Craig Gillespie’s origin story of the “101 Dalmatians” villainess is a lot of movie, in fact 133 minutes worth of it.

Emma Stone, always great, plays the Dalmatian hater. In a 20-minute prologue we see Stella (later to be Cruella) witnessing her mom’s death after the spotted dogs ransack her down a river. Years later, she’s a street thief with a passion and talent for fashion designing. With the help of both luck and ingenuity, Stella eventually lands her dream job as a designer for London’s Baroness (a deliciously wicked Emma Thompson).

For a big chunk of “Cruella,” and as Stella and the Baroness’ rivalry grows, you could very well call the film “The Devil Wears Dalmation,” but then it grows darker, Stella finds out the Baroness may have been involved with her mom’s murder, and the film turns into a duel between two unlikable psychopaths.

There’s a mad incoherence and messiness to “Cruella”; it’s a rags-to-riches story, a revenge tale, a heist movie, and, finally, an over-the-top origin story. Gillespie’s overtly-stylized frames aren’t anything new for the filmmaker; he also over-directed 2017’s “I, Tonya,” with the same glossiness and knack for low-key CGI usage.

This is another lifeless Disney endeavour, a film that pretends to be risky and gritty, but ends up playing it safe for mass audience consumption. This inevitably leads to the dirty truth about “Cruella”: that it was a misguided idea for a movie and should have never been greenlit in the first place.

SCORE: C