Cruella?

[Entre_Perpetuo]

Just saw it with my family. I thought it was absolutely rad. The sets were gorgeous, the costumes were outstanding (which, of course, they had to be), the soundtrack absolutely rocked (and I thought the heavy use of needle drops was very in line with the themes of the film overall), the story surprised me a couple of times, the action was thrilling, the humor was infectious, and the acting was superb. Watching Emma Stone portray a frighteningly determined young Cruella willing to go to unthinkable lengths for art and for justice reminded me of Rami Malek portraying a young and hungry Freddie Mercury. Sure it's Disney, but I could easily forget half the time. I dug a lot of the references to the source material as well.

[Nova Carmina]

What lengths did she go to, though? She was ambitious and dramatic and wanted the spotlight, but did she really seem like the sort of person who would age into wanting to kill puppies to skin them for a coat? Being a mean girl isn't really the same thing.

 

I'm not trying to talk you out of liking it (yes, cool soundtrack!); it's just that this is yet another in the line of revisionist stories (Wicked, Maleficient) that attempts to diminish or explain the evil of classic characters to make them more sympathetic. Why?

 

I'm reminding of Jessica Rabbit, somehow: "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way."

 

And she got her name from a car, and not, you know, the De Vil? It would have been better if she were a true anti-hero.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

What lengths did she go to, though? She was ambitious and dramatic and wanted the spotlight, but did she really seem like the sort of person who would age into wanting to kill puppies to skin them for a coat? Being a mean girl isn't really the same thing.

 

I'm not trying to talk you out of liking it (yes, cool soundtrack!); it's just that this is yet another in the line of revisionist stories (Wicked, Maleficient) that attempts to diminish or explain the evil of classic characters to make them more sympathetic. Why?

 

I'm reminding of Jessica Rabbit, somehow: "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way."

 

And she got her name from a car, and not, you know, the De Vil? It would have been better if she were a true anti-hero.

 

I don't think this movie took it upon itself to be true to the evil of Cruella in the original movies. I appreciated that, because I think protagonist Cruella is much more interesting than creepy dog killer Cruella.

[Segue Myles]

What lengths did she go to, though? She was ambitious and dramatic and wanted the spotlight, but did she really seem like the sort of person who would age into wanting to kill puppies to skin them for a coat? Being a mean girl isn't really the same thing.

 

I'm not trying to talk you out of liking it (yes, cool soundtrack!); it's just that this is yet another in the line of revisionist stories (Wicked, Maleficient) that attempts to diminish or explain the evil of classic characters to make them more sympathetic. Why?

 

I'm reminding of Jessica Rabbit, somehow: "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way."

 

And she got her name from a car, and not, you know, the De Vil? It would have been better if she were a true anti-hero.

 

I don't think this movie took it upon itself to be true to the evil of Cruella in the original movies. I appreciated that, because I think protagonist Cruella is much more interesting than creepy dog killer Cruella.

 

Creepy dog killer Cruella is exactly what Cruella is supposed to be. It's not even a creation of Disney, it's the creation of Dodie Smith, who wrote the book first.

 

This to me was NOT Cruella. I have no interest in watching it again or any sequels. What you found interesting was a whole different person with the same name.

 

I would not be inclined to watch a reboot of Hellraiser where the Cenobites were family friendly and eager to please with tea parties and the most torturous element is champagne in a hot tub.

 

Likewise Cruella is just a cold, selfish, violently inclined animal abusing bitch. She doesn't need a sympathetic back story, Hollywood is already full of people already like her.

 

She's not unrealistic. This film is just insipid.

 

I don't mean to say it's a bad film, it's just a terrible travesty of everything that makes Cruella so iconic.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Segue Myles

[goose]

The Lad saw it and enjoyed it. I imagine I will sleep through it someday when it comes to Disney+ Edited June 8, 2021 by goose