I was underwhelmed by the trailer for Cruella, which looked dumb, and didn't hear much good about it, but I love Emma Stone so I thought I'd give it a chance. But while Stone is good, it's the Emma I didn't realize was in this that supplies the best moments.
Stone plays Stella in a Cruella Deville backstory film. Reappraising villains has become a cottage industry, so perhaps it was inevitable that someone would attempt to turn Cruella into a heroine. But it's a heavy lift. Cruella is a cartoonishly villainess psychopath, and nothing in the movie resolved these two Disney Cruellas.
At it's best, it's quite good. There are fabulous moments, like the young Stella's swing escape and a long tracking shot moving from a department store's glamour to its grimy bowels. And throughout the movie has stunning, insane clothes and a fun pop-song soundtrack.
Then there is the other Emma, Thompson, who is utterly hilarious as a diva fashion designer. With Stone required to create a softer Cruella, Thompson gets to play the actual villainess role.
The movie is pretty solid through most of the first half, but as the big plot movements occur it loses energy. And that fun soundtrack eventually becomes lazy overkill; I swear, there is a pop song playing through at least 70% of the movie - every big scene, ever exciting moment, let's play a song.
As for Emma Stone, the reason I watched this, she is both great and perhaps not the right choice. At her most mischievous she has a smart-Harley-Quinn flare, but her ability to create pathos creates moments where her genuine pain and despair clash with the goofy henchmen and her ludicrous orphan story. The movie might have worked better if Cruella's vengefulness came more from anger than childhood trauma.
There are good moments, there are dull patches. There are great performances and forgettable ones. Above all there's a heroine the movie can't wrestle with, trying to create a cuddly psychopath who's not *that* bad.
I wouldn't recommend it, particularly, but there's enough that if you're a fan of the Emmas you might want to take a look.
Stone plays Stella in a Cruella Deville backstory film. Reappraising villains has become a cottage industry, so perhaps it was inevitable that someone would attempt to turn Cruella into a heroine. But it's a heavy lift. Cruella is a cartoonishly villainess psychopath, and nothing in the movie resolved these two Disney Cruellas.
At it's best, it's quite good. There are fabulous moments, like the young Stella's swing escape and a long tracking shot moving from a department store's glamour to its grimy bowels. And throughout the movie has stunning, insane clothes and a fun pop-song soundtrack.
Then there is the other Emma, Thompson, who is utterly hilarious as a diva fashion designer. With Stone required to create a softer Cruella, Thompson gets to play the actual villainess role.
The movie is pretty solid through most of the first half, but as the big plot movements occur it loses energy. And that fun soundtrack eventually becomes lazy overkill; I swear, there is a pop song playing through at least 70% of the movie - every big scene, ever exciting moment, let's play a song.
As for Emma Stone, the reason I watched this, she is both great and perhaps not the right choice. At her most mischievous she has a smart-Harley-Quinn flare, but her ability to create pathos creates moments where her genuine pain and despair clash with the goofy henchmen and her ludicrous orphan story. The movie might have worked better if Cruella's vengefulness came more from anger than childhood trauma.
There are good moments, there are dull patches. There are great performances and forgettable ones. Above all there's a heroine the movie can't wrestle with, trying to create a cuddly psychopath who's not *that* bad.
I wouldn't recommend it, particularly, but there's enough that if you're a fan of the Emmas you might want to take a look.