CRUELLA - Disney +

In Emma Stone we trust.

CRUELLA is terrific. A touch overwrought, but nonetheless a visually ravishing and aurally exciting origin story for one of Disney's great villains.

Setting the story in London in the 70s and having access to the Disney budget allowed the director, Craig Gillespie (I Tonya, Lars & The Real Girl and the rather good Fright Night remake), to deploy song-bombs from the likes of The Bee Gees, The Zombies, The Clash, The Rolling Stones and Iggy Pop to propel the action and score the rise of Cruella from a spunky schoolgirl to fashion icon. It means Cruella gets to surf her way to the top via the final days of glam rock through punk and into goth. The iconoclasm of the punk aesthetic is Cruella's fuel.

Emma Thompson gives good adversary, and the film plays well with our feelings of ambivalence about the heroine. It also manages to be audacious, carrying a shocking plot point that one might think Disney would have been afraid of. But the film goes there, and is funnier and better for it.

Hurrah!

It gets extra points for giving a good on-screen message in the end titles about the need to give dogs a good home and getting them from rescue centres. 

 CRUELLA is a treat. I loved it.