Re-contextualizing an evil fairy queen so that we can sympathize with her even as she puts a life-long hex on a little girl is certainly a choice I can see Disney making. Trying the same with a character who’s main claim to fame is really hating dogs, wanting to skin them and turn them into a coat, and inspiring a fantastic Simpsons song (“See my vest, see my vest”) is just a weird decision.

There are two halves to this movie that never really jell for me. On the one hand, this is a decently cool period piece about dueling high fashion designers set to a groovy (if sometimes on-the-nose) soundtrack. But it’s also a crass, almost completely disconnected tie-in prequel to the villain of 101 Dalmatians, no doubt picked to sell a new line of Halloween costumes and meet-and-greets at the park. It’s as thought someone had an unrelated script lying around that they refashioned so it could be part of the 101 canon.

In other words, you can fully enjoy this movie completely divorced from any actual association with the dog movie(s). You can enjoy it as the 70s era fashion flick that shares DNA with The Devil Wears Prada and have fun with it on those two levels. It’s almost like Devil Wears Prada if Anne Hathaway was actually a small-time crook… and then secretly goes to war with the boss using a superhero-like alter ego. It’s kind of weird.

But, yeah, also kind of cool and I ain’t gonna even suggest Emma Stone isn’t perfect for the part. I’ve always been on the Emma Stone train so I was completely on-board for her taking on this part, even while thinking the part was a little weird for a live action movie. And Emma Thompson as the villain (or one of the villains? This is a weird movie) is also fabulous.

I guess I give it an average score because, frankly, I didn’t give a damn about a dueling fashion designer war. I know, I know… Miranda Priestly should give me an icy stare and lecture me on the importance of fashion to the economy. Whatever. It’s not my bag and the movie didn’t really find a way to convince me any of these petty squabbles mattered. Maybe if Cruella character was written better… either as a better person or as a better anti-hero. She was too inconsistent and the constant mental gymnastics needed to tie this character to the decrepit old villain from the cartoon was a problem.

But, hey, if you can dig the story and groove to the movie’s very blatant (and sometimes successful) attempts to be cool, this movie will totally be up your alley. I guess just try not to think about the marketing opportunities and dubious character reformation being attempted. You’ll have a better time if you do.

Score: 75