Cruella

Craig Gillespie is a very skilled director and Cruella confirms it. The ridiculously overblown running time was a bit jarring at first, but this Disney original paces unexpectedly well. Emma Stone is very likeable most of the time, to the point where you wonder if she's actually supposed to be the villain, but the moments where she turns into a sociopath out for (justified) revenge work so well because of it. Emma Thompson enjoys playing the top-notch bitch, too, and Gillespie pours one visual idea after another from his sleeve, plucking a bit from Joker here and Burton there, and his stylish 1970s London is damn good to look at. Like the whole film, in fact. I was quite sorry that they obviously had to rein themselves in a bit at times. Overall though, it's a damn entertaining and audiovisually polished spectacle that works as a drama, a comedy, a family film and a heist. I don't know if I'd sign off on the claim that of all the live-action throwbacks to Disney classics, Cruella is the best, but it's certainly the most distinctive and daring. (09.06.2021)

Cruella is a Disney villain origin film that is surprisingly stylish. Genre-wise, it's completely different than what I normally watch and seek out, but it has to be said that considering it’s 140 minutes long and has no action or violence, I had an above-average time. Cruella has her own flair, a nice London setting, an impressive Emma Stone, who steals the whole show for herself, her entrances to the stage are always both epic and engaging, and the cool retro music playing all the time is a delight. Emma Thompson is also brilliant, playing the Baroness to a great standard, she commands respect and plays the bitch decently. The clashes between the two main characters are the strongest of the whole film. I also liked the dogs, the occasional humorous interludes. There are fine twists (though some are predictable), and it works as a heist genre film with a revenge theme all in one. The fashion element is also a big plus, with some of the dresses taking your breath away. Fashion oriented women will probably marvel here. A nice nice and entertaining film. 7.5/10. (28.05.2021)

Zusammen mit den bösen Königinnen aus Schneewittchen und Alice gehört Cruella neben Maleficent und Ursula zu den negativsten weiblichen Figuren aus dem Disney-Königreich. Außerdem gehört sie zu denjenigen, deren Filme noch zu Disneys Lebzeiten entstanden sind. Was die Neuverfilmungen angeht, so hat bisher nur Maleficent - Die dunkle Fee ihren eigenen Film bekommen, und es gab zwei aktualisierte Filme Alice im Wunderland, während eine neue Version von Schneewittchen und Arielle, die Meerjungfrau in Vorbereitung sind. Nur wenige hätten daher vermutet, dass ein eigenständiger Film Cruella stilistisch mehr an I, Tonya (einschließlich Paul Walter Hauser) erinnern würde als alles andere. Craig Gillespie war eine großartige Wahl, er hat sich nicht lumpen lassen und ein Prequel zu 101 Dalmatiner unterschrieben, das selbst Dodie Smith aus dem Sessel reißen würde. Das Ergebnis ist ein Erlebnis, das ich mir bei künftigen Wiederholungen auf keinen Fall versagen werde. Außerdem ist es der erste Film, in dem mich Emma Stone nach all den flachen und uninteressanten, nutzlosen Mädchenfiguren nicht stört. (10.04.2022)

Cruella als Disney-Version des Joker geht im Gegensatz zu früheren Disney-Live-Action-Remakes ihren eigenen Weg und erzählt die Entstehungsgeschichte der dä-mon-ischen Liebhaberin schwarzer und weißer Tupfen auf schlitzohrige, fast spitzbübische Weise. Mir gefiel, wie es den Filmemachern gelang, verschiedene Motive einzubauen, die später in der Dalmatiner-Folge auftauchten (am meisten amüsiert haben mich Roger und Anita). Aus audiovisueller Sicht ist es eine spektakuläre Show mit einem anständigen Soundtrack und einer Fülle von prächtigen Kostümen - nur an einigen Stellen trübten vielleicht zu künstliche Effekte (von Hunden) etwas den Eindruck. Emma Stone ist sympathisch, wird von Joel Fry und Paul Walter Hauser humorvoll gespielt, und das Ganze wurde von der kühl-eleganten Emma Thompson hervorragend umgesetzt. Die Wendungen der Handlung sind durchweg vorhersehbar, aber was soll's - ich hatte Spaß im Kino und habe die schwarz-weiße Rachejagd in vollen Zügen genossen. (12.06.2021)

It's a lot better than I expected. It's more of a glamour movie than a Disney movie, the costumes are fantastic, Emma Stone is my kryptonite, and it's decently paced until a good two thirds in. But then there's everything else. Cruella doesn't have many reasons to justify not being an animated film. The actors act like a cartoon and the internal logic of the film is like a cartoon: everyone has infinite energy, they don't sleep, they do things overnight and unnoticed that normally take teams of people weeks and months to work on, the protagonists have a blank check for everything, there's no causality, and nothing happens in the world unless it's in a given scene. The environments are CGI for the most part anyway, and the camera flies around in them regardless of physical obstacles. And my eye truly ached whenever it beheld digital dogs. What puzzled me most, though, was why the film was practically about the fight against Cruella, who was supposed to be the main character. Here Emma Stone plays the usual slightly dodgy juvenile girl with a tragic past while Emma Thompson, her nemesis, is the one with all the makings of the classic Cruella. After all, the character has always been a model of the cynical establishment, while here, WTF, they make her a parlor anarchist standing in some kind of resistance to the system. So why does Disney entice us to see a movie with a classic baddie in the lead role when they leave nothing but the barest of the character and instead serve up the most hackneyed, annoying story with a family twist without a microscopic shred of moral ambivalence? Rhetorical question. I know, because Disney. Disney, who can buy the rights to any song, from the Rolling Stones to Nina Simone to the Stooges, and then pepper them one by one without taste or balance into a monstrous 100-200M original intended for a tween audience from the wealthy American suburbs. Well gee, I’ve gotten all worked up again. (08.09.2021)

Unlike 101 Dalmatians, Cruella has a significantly darker atmosphere. It might have been even better if it hadn’t been made by Disney, a company I’m not particularly fond of (just like the KGB, CIA, and the censors who oversee political correctness). Anyway, I was mightily surprised by how much I enjoyed the film throughout. Emma Stone was excellent, Emma Thompson was a perfect villainess, and the others did their best to support them, as the two Emmas stole the movie for themselves. I really enjoyed this one. (09.10.2021)

A family drama, a thriller, a heist, a comedy, and a bit of an action movie too. Craig Gillespie has mixed an admirable genre palette, which, along with the divine Emma Stone, is ruled by a polished audiovisual style. It's the kind of "juicy" film where you know from the exposition that you're going to enjoy pretty much every shot. And I couldn't help but notice that for a Disney production, it felt a little too cruel and evil in places, which of course was purely a benefit. In short, it's not a predictable Disney movie, because you don't see such an appealing and cool origin of one iconic (non-)villain that often. [75%] (28.06.2021)

Ich hatte wirklich keine Ahnung, wie meisterhaft die Geschichte von Cruella erzählt und dargestellt werden kann. Ich verließ den Kinosaal begeistert, voller Enthusiasmus und Energie. Berührt von dem schönen Punkt am Ende des Films und einmal mehr überzeugt, dass Emma Stone wirklich Oscar-Qualitäten hat. Ergänzt wird die ganze Verfilmung durch bravouröse, optisch ansprechende Kostüme + Masken und gut abgestimmte Soundtracks. (24.06.2021)