Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Cruella 

This is a fabulous wickedly dark tale that is so much fun. Emma Stone and Emma Thompson give layered and scene stealing performances that crackle. This is probably the best Disney Live action film I’ve seen since Cinderella. Now for an origin film for a villain this blows Maleficent clear out of the water. The film is able to use its material of Cruella from 101 Dalmatians and really build upon her backstory without making the audience sympathize with her. It is able to give you such a fun time with this despicable character 

Firstly, That was my biggest concern for this film is that if it was going to try to get me to sway in the favour of the villain or make me feel bad for her. As Maleficent did just that many years ago it took one of the biggest and most popular Disney villains and stripped away Any sort of mystery or scare factor she had because they made you feel bad for her and I don’t want that. Due to the fact they are the villains they are supposed to be despised and if you are going to show how they became so bad you can create the backstory and the what happened before without lightening the darkness of the antagonist. Cruella walks a very fine line between that as yes their are scenes of true sadness for her but it never is outright saying you should feel bad for what she’s going through because as a viewer we have seen what she does eventually evolve into by 101 Dalmations. The context they give her here of how she became who she eventually does later on is so well structured and layered I would go as far as saying it is one of Disney’s best live action films in a very long time. As it has a greatly written story that has great twist and turns and two great performances from Thompson and Stone and overall it captures the great stylistic villainy of who this character is. 

Secondly, The performances from Emma Stone and Emma Thompson are absolutely amazing to witness. Both actors never fail at chewing up every scene their in and to have Stone playing one of the most sinister characters Disney had ever created topped with a narcissistic fashion diva played by Thompson what more could you ask for. Both of them play their parts so deliciously vicious as Stone starts off as a person who tries her best to compress the dark side of her but after so many failed attempts of being nice she takes on this persona that is essentially a split personality of her and she is unapologetic in it. She is able to crackle with such fun charisma that it’s impossible to look away. You also can see Stone having so much fun playing this layered character onscreen as she’s bringing her absolute all to this character. Then you have Thompson who plays this cutthroat fashion icon that takes no prisoners. She’s always been playing emotionally layered characters her whole career but she’s also been known to be insanely likeable in her performances and to see her just do this whole 360 of what she usually plays was refreshing to watch. She can intimidate an entire room with her presence by simply staring at them. And when she speaks she can strip you down verbally in ways you never thought we’re possible and she would make it so personal to your heart to hurt you. Thompson is a force to be reckoned with that gives a truly scene stealing turn in this film. The rest of the cast is also top notch from Joel Fry who gives a fantastic turn as Jasper giving such deep context into a character who in both previous  live actions and even the cartoon was very one dimensional. He here brings a very emotionally honest portrait to the henchman and shows their is more to him then just the person that helps Cruella he really comes into his own giving a solid performance that shouldn’t go overlooked. Everyone in this film was magnificent no matter how big or small their role was everyone contributed beautifully to the film but it is the two performances from both Emma’s that truly will blow you away. 

Lastly, Cruella takes the Villain origin concept Disney has been trying to nail for a while now and knocks it out of the park. As they show a dark and entertaining portrait of this character without taking away what makes her so sinister but instead just fills in the answers that we didn’t know while showing the layered emotional switch she could turn in seconds. It’s dark stylish and so well acted by Stone and Thompson in one of Disney’s best films they’ve had in a very long time Cruella is an outstanding live action that shouldn’t be missed. 

This film centres around Cruella and how she became the wicked person she eventually is in 101 Dalmatians and it takes place in 1970’s London aspiring to make it in the fashion world but along the way she finds the path of who she is and it’s not a path full of light. 

Rated PG - 13 : for thematic elements and some violence 

Emma Stone : Stone Delivers a villainous and crackling performance of pure energy and fun. Emma Stone has always shown that she gives her absolute all to every single part she plays. In this film she really relishes every moment of screen time as the iconic villain she portrays. As she never once makes us sympathize with her at all she shows what made her crack sure but we never once are made to feel bad for her. I liked that though As Emma was able to show her in this very semi innocent light for a bit and show how she genuinely tries to be a good person by doing the right thing and when she gets knocked down constantly she eventually shifts into this totally other persona which she takes on. I would call it a split personality honestly as in the film she switches between this emotionally stable version of herself that is Estella and then goes to Cruella and the way she can just shift her emotion in a dime was insanely impressive. Now we have seen Emma Stone play many characters with multi layered dimensions in them but this is different though as her performance her isn’t like the stuff she’s done in the past like Birdman, Battle Of The Sexes or even La La Land. She plays probably to date her most complex role yet because she is constantly at conflict within herself emotionally sure but also psychologically. Because she makes you see her in that cute innocent look for a good 45 minutes of the film and when she switches up her personality its so seamless and works so well as the moment you see her embrace the darker side of her Emma goes head deep into it. As her posture is different the way she speaks everything she really enjoys this more sinister aspect of herself as Estella has compressed so much anger and sadness her whole life she eventually cracks and it results into a personality that is troubled for Sure but also to a degree dangerous. For the reason she’s insanely unpredictable in her actions and Emma is able to bring that charismatic terror to the full front that makes it so believable and entertaining to watch. Stone carries this sadness in her eyes that you can sense but due to her carless nature she takes on she can hide her heartbreak so well but it is still their. Now Stone mixes the two perfect emotional beats perfectly with this character sadness and unpredictable fun danger which results in truly captivating scenes you can’t look away from. From how she even speeds up her talking to the way she has this blackness in her eyes you never know when she will go off and that is frightening and its a performance that is truly fantastic. She never asks for you to like the character but to understand her and that is exactly the approach I wanted to this sister character and Stone knocks this complex individual out of the park with layered emotional depth and you can’t take your eyes off of her Stone is truly breathtaking. 

Emma Thompson : Thompson is fierce and brilliant in this performance she gives in Cruella! Here she plays a massive Narcissist and she plays against type for the first time in a while. As Emma Thompson is one of the greatest onscreen actresses of all time in my opinion and I love her work it is a incredible body of work. She’s proven to be an incredible writer and actress but what she does a lot not that its’s a fault in her acting choices but a lot of the times she plays very warm or likeable people. Now that being said there have been times she has mixed it up and played unlikeable characters for sure but I have not seen her revisit that emotional side of her in quite some time. As she mixed light and darkness with her severely overlooked performance in Late Night which everyone should watch. Now her work in this film is incredible Because the thing about Thompson is regardless if it is a leading or supporting part she gives her 100% to her roles every single time. Here she plays a cutthroat fashion icon in 1970’s London now the moment she steps onscreen her presence is felt and from the scene we are introduced to her we see exactly what she will be like for the remaining of film and she shows us exactly who she is and what her character motivations are from the first scene. She brings this haunting intimidation that is spoken without words its just a look she can give you that makes you stutter or sweat with nerves. Thompson brings that terrifying threatening emotional sense to the role that is perfect as she never has a moment of sadness or real vulnerability which I find so interesting as Thompson usually does in a lot of her roles but not here. She pulls back and shows only the amount she wants us to see of this character and its interesting because she leaves a lot in the dark unanswered which I liked to be honest and Thompson springs the words from the page to life in either a hilarious dead pan delivery or pure chilling delivery. She switches between both beautifully and another thing she was able to show off is her ability to either match or outmatch the darkness that Cruella has. Because what Thompson shows from this character is a person that will do whatever means to stay at the top even if it means going outside the means of legal terms to do so. Which shows how unstable of a person this character is and so you have two emotionally unhinged people going at one another it is only going to end in one way with one person coming out on top. Now Thompson rises to the challenge and presents such a darkness and chill factor to her that I loved because the role she plays is so juicy and so captivating Emma just relishes in every frame giving amazing dry humour or pure terror. It is  a performance that plays out like a chess match between Stone and Thompson and in the best way possible. Overall Emma Thompson brings a performance of pure villainy and truly intimidating nature that will keep your eyes glued to her the entire time it is a performance that Thompson once again pours every fibre of herself into. 

Craig Gillespie : Craig again knocks it out of the park with his spin on this iconic Disney Villain! Craig is a solid filmmaker and I have been saying that for years as he did great work way way back when he did Fright Night the Vampire horror comedy. He went onto more brilliant stuff with I, Tonya and so when I heard he was going to be taking on directing duties for this live action I knew that this had the potential to be truly great. The result was I wasn’t wrong he did an amazing job as he did not try to copy other origin films that came before it he made it his own. He brought this very dark gothic look to the frame that I loved not like Tim Burton but that kind of stylistic tone. As he doesn’t use the entire film to set up the early years of her life he takes 45 minutes he knew exactly when to end it there and where Cruella began. Which I thought was genius thinking on his part as you don’t want it to turn int a film of just giving context on the early years pre Cruella he does both and juggles it greatly. As he shifts gears tone wise halfway through the film and it does get a bit dark and he goes into places tone wise I wasn’t surprised he went as I have seen him visit some of these themes before but I was more shocked Disney let him go as far as he wanted with the subject matter. That being said the character itself is already a dark hearted person so there is no way you can create a truthful portrait of the person if you gloss over the darker elements of the story. He takes it head and how he shows the scope of this tale is big but the story is very intimate and he never for one second shows her asking for pity. He does not make it come across that way he shows the audience why she is the way she is that is for sure but that’s it. As he is fully aware and so is the audience of who she eventually evolves into by the end. He brings this Joker type look to the frame and what I mean by that is that it feels very grounded and gritty it didn’t feel sugar coated he shows the brutal honesty of this character as truthfully as he could and the result was fantastic. As he also makes the film stand out in that way for it as it to me is honestly one of Disney’s best live action films in a very long time but that is what happens when you get a director who knows what he is doing. All the while getting great performances from his cast and giving more context on other characters as well without fleshing them out too much that theirs no mystery left but just enough that we have a better understanding of them. Overall Craig directed this film beautifully and if there is a sequel and he is at the helm again sign me up because he did an amazing job with this film.