Released in 2021, Craig Gillespie’s “Cruella” sees Emma Stone in the shoes of one of the most famous villains in the Disney universe. The result? One of the studio’s best live-action projects.
With its wave of remakes and other live-action projects, Disney has found the magic formula to fill the coffers. The studio’s iconic animated films are reimagined – sometimes identically – with the simple aim of capitalizing on the nostalgia of the spectators. Among the many examples already released – The Lion King, Aladdin, Cinderella, The Jungle Book … -, few have proven to be of good quality.
There are still a few exceptions, like Cruella. Directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya), this film focuses on the young years of the villainess of 101 Dalmatians. On screen, the endearing Emma Stone has the difficult task of abandoning her capital sympathy and moving after Glenn Close, memorable in a previous version released in 1996.
A sweetened villain but…
In this new Cruella, everything is not perfect. To avoid offending anyone and especially not animal protection associations, the character loses some of his characteristics. First, she’s not a dog killer anymore. The only fur Cruella wears in this movie is fake. Also forget the cigarettes which were one of the key elements of his look.
However, alongside this formatting imposed by the policy of blockbusters for all audiences, Craig Gillespie’s feature film does not lack great ideas, such as that of setting the story in the London of the seventies while punk enters on stage.
… rock despite everything
In this historical context, Cruella does a lot of things: a thunderous soundtrack – ranging from The Clash to Debbie Harry via Jim Morrison -, a fairly impressive reconstruction of the capital and an avalanche of costumes, each more extravagant than the last. others.
To find her inspiration, the film’s costume designer Jenny Beavan turned to the work of Vivianne Westwood, a cult designer of this era who marked her era for her risk-taking. In total, Emma Stone wears 47 costumes on screen and each sequence ingeniously highlights the originality of the creations.
If you mix The Devil Wears Prada and a feminine, punk, mainstream version of Joker, you’ll get Cruella. A very elaborate live-action and more adventurous than the other remakes designed by Disney.
Cruella is available on Disney+.
