Bop or Flop: Cruella

Is Cruella's origin worth the watch?

*Youtube

Crime/Comedy, 2 hours 14 min, PG-13

Director: Craig Gillespie

What’s it about? Estella is a young and clever grifter who's determined to make a name for herself in the fashion world. She soon meets a pair of thieves who appreciate her appetite for mischief, and together they build a life for themselves on the streets of London. However, when Estella befriends fashion legend Baroness von Hellman, she embraces her wicked side to become the raucous and revenge-bent Cruella.

Those who love Disney and a dramatic anti-hero will probably enjoy this movie.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 74% | IMDb Rating: 7.4/10 | Metacritic Score: 59%

Bop or Flop? Unfortunately, this film is a flop for me. Despite its talented cast, and even intriguing cinematography, the plot was lackluster and unable to be redeemed.

This film did not feel like a prequel to the live-action101 Dalmatians. Instead, the idea of Cruella's manic personality took its own form.

I hated the connections the plot attempted to make. I did not like that her name was Estrella and she was nicknamed Cruella because she was a wild child. I hated that she was born with her hair already half black and half white. I've seen cases of white patches in hair, sort of like a birth mark, but this felt extreme. Plus, her being born with that hair takes away connections to how crazy she is about Dalmatians.

Rather than see her be obsessed with Dalmatians, they were barely noticeable in this film, except for what could be considered the beginning of her villain origin - when a Dalmatian killed her mother. I really HATED that part, and it was hard to take the film seriously after. I honestly lost interest after that because that was so dumb.

I did like that she was an aspiring fashion designer. That made sense. She even had fits, though they didn't always feel reminiscent of Glenn Close's version of Cruella. As she explores the world of fashion, she begins working with The Baroness, aka the Anna Wintour of the land. She soon finds out that the Baroness, her biggest fashion inspiration, is wicked. And more of a surprise - that this crazy fashionista is also her birth mother.

She was a heartless sociopath, who gave her baby away at birth. Now everything starts to make sense to Cruella. This is why she loves fashion. This is why she's always struggled to behave - she can't help it! It's in her genes.

In some ways, Cruella is comparable to Todd Phillips' Joker. They tried to make us sympathize with her by making her craziness not her fault. First of all, not every villain needs sympathy. Empathy, maybe, but not sympathy. Sometimes we just want a bad bitch to be unapologetically bad.

*Indiewire

Cruella's character arc was sadly familiar, as it reminded me of Daenerys's fall from grace in Game of Thrones Season 8. So just because her parent was a raging tyrant she has to become one, too? Even if she showed no signs of it before? (In Cruella's case, being a wild child is not the equivalent of a raging sociopath).

Ultimately, it was not necessary for Cruella to have her own origin story. I am far more interested in older Cruella. Plus, we need more stories where older actors get some shine (No shade to Emma Stone). There are other Disney villains that could benefit from an origin story, such as Scar from The Lion King or Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog.

Also I will say they tried to sprinkle some diversity in the casting... and the music choices were... interesting.

Ultimately, it was not for me. It could have been better or it didn't have to exist at all. Some Disney stans will probably disagree.

Emelah’s Score: 🍿🍿

Cruella is in theaters and streaming with Disney Plus Premier Access.