I finally watched it.
And... it's really not bad. I did like it.
Visually, it's an stunning movie. The story ain't really that bad and the characters are fun. It's a dark comedy with very over-the-top elements, so it works.
The problem starts when you remember she's going to become a sadistic puppy killer. Here, is painted too sympathetic for my taste. Within the story, ignoring what she's gonna be in the future (and that means in the next three or five years after this movie), it is indeed the story of an asshole who at least got her day and she might have earned it. You expect she will learn and become a better person because there are still some traits of humanity in her.
But then you remember the original Dalmatian movie when she and the other two characters are gonna become very awful people and then you wonder why this movie exists in first place?
The Joker comparisons are not absurd. I can see them, but they don't work here because, for starters, she doesn't go through the things Arthur did. At all. Cruella receives help from everyone around her. First, one of her friends who really appreciates her doesn't want to waste her talents being a thief so he gets her a job at some fancy store owned by a woman she admires, with hope she can later get their attention and upgrade. Does this happen to Arthur at any moment at all?
Cruella is at her job and then she gets drunk and vandalizes a window display. Remember when Arthur accidentally drops a gun when he's at the hospital and gets fired? Well, guess what? she doesn't get fired: her window is so groundbreaking that the designer she admires, coincidentally, goes there that day, sees it, and without asking for more, hires her as a designer for her fashion house.
Through the movie, it's shown that she is indeed very talented and if she wanted, she could start her own clothing brand and live off that for the rest of her life. Remember when that happened to Arthur? It is a female fantasy because the only reason Cruella can get her revenge is because everything is handed to her: someone saves her from the streets the same day she becomes an orphan, someone gets her the job that puts her close to objective, someone notices her work and gives her a better job, she coincidentally knows the reporter that makes her famous on media, someone even saves her life.
Besides that, or rather if you choose to ignore all that, I think it does deserve some praise for being original and fun, which is what you expect from a movie.
deadline.com
