Disney is currently riding the wave of live-action remakes. Animation classics are being remade again, this time with real people. Cruella is the latest in this series, but it is not a complete remake of the 1961 classic 101 Doggies. That has already been done in 1996.

Instead, there is a prequel of sorts that follows protagonist Cruella de Vil's journey to become a fur-obsessed fashion mogul. Sort of. This is not just a prequel to "101 Doggies," it is in fact much stranger and more complex.

From the original trailer, one would be forgiven for thinking that Cruella is a mixture of The Devil Wears Prada and 2019's The Joker. Cruella owes a lot to those films in many ways, but that description would be overstating the case.

Comparisons can be made with 2014's Maleficent, which recast the main villain of Sleeping Beauty as a more sympathetic character. Maleficent is characterized in the film as an anti-villain rather than an anti-hero, but the film actually explains why she did what she did and gives her a chance at redemption.

But Cruella is not one of those films either. This is especially true because there are serious problems with the film's attempt to make Cruella de Vil seem like a sympathetic character. In particular, because it has serious problems in trying to make Cruella de Vil seem like a sympathetic character. Mainly because even the most ardent predator would resent the slaughter of puppies just to make a fashion statement. That level of heinousness cannot be justified in any way.

This is not the Cruella we have seen before. We see a young Estella de Vil, an aspiring fashion designer spiraling to get a new name. And she is willing to sprint down a path that embraces madness and the desire for revenge. Indeed, the change is so abrupt that it is clear that Estela was a sweet public persona that masked the true Cruella that had been lurking beneath for years. This pivot and duality is what makes Cruella stand out as a film.

And even at the end, when Cruella fully embraces her inner madness and diabolical nature, it is almost impossible to see her turn for the worst and make the decision to kill the puppies. The film hints repeatedly at that prospect, and Cruella steps into the line of full-blown villainy, but it never really happens.

Indeed, Cruella's relationship with the film's cast of dogs suggests that the character played by Emma Stone will never cross this line. No matter what crimes she commits or threats she makes, this Cruella will always remain firmly in the camp of anti-heroism and will never stray into full-blown villainy.

In other words, this is not a prequel to 101 Doggies. This is something else entirely, and I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did.

"Cruella" is a strange mishmash of different genres. It is difficult to say exactly what category to put this film in, as it turns over so many times. Disney Plus roughly categorizes the film as drama and crime, which is not inaccurate. However, "Cruella" manages to pack in elements of several classic techniques throughout its 134-minute running time.

Cruella has several elements of the classic revenge tale, heist film, period drama, and classic "rags to riches" trope. In addition, there is the ever-present expectation that the film is essentially a supervillain origin story. But Cruella never does what you might expect, which makes it all the more enjoyable to watch.

Some of the casting, however, could have been better, especially with American actors playing British characters. Paul Walter Hauser (aka Stringray in "Cobra Kai" and Richard Jewell in "Richard Jewell") plays Horace with a gruff voice that clearly comes from watching too many Guy Ritchie films. Horace is supposed to be a typical buffoonish thief, and he certainly acts like one throughout the film. And yet he sounds like Phil Mitchell's (American, check out "Easterners") long-lost chain-smoker brother.

Similarly, Emma Stone is too neat and properly pronounced for a woman who essentially grew up as a street urchin on the streets of London. As a native Englishman, it is clear to me that this is a learned accent, not one that has been cultivated over time. But this is not caricatured and is always a risk when Hollywood is involved.

"Cruella" was not worth paying $30 to see with "Disney Plus Premier Access," but it is now available for free with a "Disney Plus" subscription.

If you are curious to see what Cruella is all about and have been waiting for this day to come, you will not be disappointed. It may be a weird movie, but it's still a great way to spend two hours. Just keep an open mind, because it's definitely not the kind of movie you were hoping for.