Is Cruella The Best Live-Action Disney Remake?!
By David Crow
Disney’s Cruella movie is finally in theaters and on Disney+.
And it’s surprisingly good!
All ‘70s punk rock fashion and music, Cruella is a departure from previous Disney remakes.
Which is probably why it’s the best one.
Most live-action Disney redos tend to go through the motions, repeating better animated films.
Beauty and the Beast (2017) expanded the story but lost its heart (and quality singing).
The Lion King (2019) was nearly scene-for-scene the same movie, yet couldn’t duplicate the original’s soul.
And the less said about Mulan (2020) the better.
Cruella most clearly resembles Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent from 2014.
But that movie blandly rewrote Sleeping Beauty so Maleficent could be the hero.
Cruella never (fully) contradicts 101 Dalmatians; it goes its own way.
Emma Stone is fabulous as Cruella de Vil, an antihero who admits she’s “a little mad.”
She also rocks strutting into galas and caning security.
Cruella isn’t fully bad, but she might get there.
And her movie is a wild riff on The Devil Wears Prada, opposite Emma Thompson.
Only both Emmas are just oh, so devilish here.
It is its own “mad,” malevolent fun.