‘Cruella’ Review: Emma Stone Delivers the Best Performance in a Live-Action Disney Remake

There are plenty of issues in Cruella. However, the performances by Emma Stone and Emma Thompson are easily the best in any live-action Disney remake. Every scene featuring the two Emmas is phenomenal and their characters alone are enough to make Cruella one of the best remakes alongside 2019’s Aladdin and 2015’s Cinderella.

Using a Devil Wears Prada-like story for Cruella de Vil’s origin is brilliant until the heist plot interrupts a battle of whits between two cunning, entertaining and often cantankerous fashion designers. Jenny Beavan‘s costume designs and the recreation of 1970s London are top-notch. Craig Gillespie directs the film with a ton of energy. However, there are times I wanted the film to slow down and the let scenes breathe a bit more. The few scenes that are given room to build are the best in the film and allows the battle between the two leading ladies to flourish.

Cruella has a lot of missteps preventing the film from eclipsing Aladdin or Cinderella. The Jekyll and Hyde approach with Cruella de Vil is a great showcase for Stone’s range. Stone’s ability to change her wit from slightly flighty as Estella to more acerbic as Cruella is an example of how the two personalities deal with conflict. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t do a strong job of showing how the switch from Cruella to Estrella and vice versa works. Estrella doesn’t have much of an issue with thievery. Cruella may be pretty caustic but never crosses the line into making her a true villain. Can the character be both Cruella and Estrella? The film’s ending doesn’t provide clarity on that front.

The film also lets The Baroness played by Thompson down. Her capabilities as a villain shift constantly throughout the film. In one scene, The Baroness will come across as out of her depth with her new adversary. In the next, she will be an imposing obstacle. The problem is the film doesn’t show how The Baroness gets the upper hand. Seeing the gears turn in a villain’s head is what makes them compelling or not and Thompson is certainly up to the task. Gillespie and the screenwriters chose not to which is disappointing.

If a scene doesn’t involve Cruella and The Baroness, it simply falls flat in this film. The relationship between Estrella, Jasper played by Joel Fry and Horace played by Paul Walter Hauser starts promising, but flutters as the film goes along. Mark Strong is in the film quite a bit but is basically used to deliver exposition, which adds complications to a story that had enough balls to juggle. The 60’s and 70’s rock soundtrack is fun at times but is way overused.

With the overview out of the way, lets dive deeper into Cruella. Please note there will be some minor spoilers. Cruella is available for $30 on Disney Plus or in Theaters.

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Tale of Two Emmas

Cruella is an emotionally inert film carried by two fantastic performances. Every scene between Stone and Thompson just works in spite of the story surrounding them.

Watching the balance of power shift when Cruella is opposite of The Baroness vs Estella is tremendous to watch. The mentor-mentee relationship between Estella and The Baroness is derivative of The Devil Wears Prada, which works well as a showcase for Stone and Thompson, but doesn’t offer much originality in the story department. When Cruella is onscreen, the shift in power is great, there just needed to be more of an adversarial dynamic. The film uses several music montages to depict a lot of the Cruella vs The Baroness story which is unfortunate.

Thompson is pure evil as The Baroness. Her ice-cold demeanor only thaws when there’s something she can gain. Outside of some spoiler-related story moments, there’s very little in the composition of this character that isn’t borrowed from Miranda in The Devil Wears Prada. Throughout the film, The Baroness’s intelligence as a villain varies. In one scene, she’ll be outmatched by Cruella, Jasper and Horace. In the next, scene she has the upper hand without showing how she gained so much ground.

Cruella vs Estella

If given the proper time in the script, the inner battle between Cruella and Estella is a fascinating character study. Unfortunately, the differences between the two personas are mostly based on cosmetic and acting choices by Stone. Other than being bold, throwing out snide remarks and being selfish there’s nothing Cruella does in this film that’s irredeemable. Likewise, Estella is a thief, so she’s not exactly Cinderella.

The film doesn’t bother to explain how the transition from Estella to Cruella works. Since Gillespie and the screenwriter don’t provide a reason, she must just decide when to become one or the other, which weakens the inner conflict. Stone’s ability to alter her vocal tone and body movement is fun to watch throughout the film. Despite Stone’s commitment, it’s difficult to root for a character that sarcastically jokes about killing puppies.

There’s a huge turning point in the film that looks like a development opportunity for Cruella and Estella. The next scene completely disregards the direction. Having both of these scenes is just confusing and throws the film into chaos in the 3rd act.

Franchise Tie-Ins

Cruella De Vil’s penchant for skinning dogs is only referenced via some ill-timed comedy by Cruella. Estella even has a dog herself. There’s a moment in the film that seems to set up an adversarial relationship with dalmatians. However, Estella properly rationalizes the traumatizing event, which makes her remarks about the dogs later in the film feel shoehorned.

The other callbacks to the villain’s story are abysmal. When it comes to the De Vil part of her name, you will roll your eyes at how the scene plays out. A character pretty much winks at the camera when uttering the line so you won’t miss it.

Cruella Final Thoughts

Out of all of the performances in these Disney remakes, only Cate Blanchett‘s performance in Cinderella compares to the pair of leading performances in Cruella. The lack of character development, derivative story and on-the-nose easter eggs makes Thompson and Stone’s acting showcase the only reason to see Cruella.

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