Cruella (2021)

Cruella (2021)

6/10

Starring

Emma Stone

Emma Thompson

Joel Fry

Paul Walter Hauser

 

Directed by Craig Gillespie

 

I swear, I already judge the casting of Emma Stone (as Cruella) in this live-action spin off before I even saw it. Now that I have seen her in the role, I have to say she is an amazing actor and her portrayal in this movie the way she framed the character was magnificent to see.

The movie is fun and you will enjoy it, especially for the wonderful world build. It is visually dazzling with colorful is screenplay and creativity. But the movie is forgettable and the movie way too long. The story is written in a Dickensian style and it is not so predictable as I expected. Be ready for some fantastic performances from Stone and Emma Thompson, especially when they go at it.

It is obvious that Disney is pushing the limits of their fanbase. Cruella is not a bad try and this crime comedy gives nothing more than an OK feel and leaves you wondering the reason for the making of this movie in the first place. It was so not needed. They also did something meaningless by tying to Cruella's past some characters we know from the main movie this spinoff is based (the animation of One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)). For all the ingenuity plus creativity the director and writers put into this, that for me deducted from their ingenuity points. I think giving Cruella a clean break from everything that is her from the animation would have been a better take.

The plot takes us way back, the movie starts from the birth of Estella/Cruella and we witness that from childhood Cruella has always been different and the white and black hair, is not a style. Now, what I liked about this depth they gave her was she has never been one to follow rule and her lack of keeping to them, led to a tragedy that changed her life. Cruella became homeless and lived on the streets, stealing and conning with the aid of her two friends Jasper and Horace.

Jasper always knew Cruella had a thing for fashion and got her a job working for the Baroness (Emma Thompson) a fashion icon whose character reminds you of Meryl Streep’s Miranda in The Devil Wears Prada (2006). She noticed the potential and took her under her wing, but the tragedy in Cruella’s life is tied to the Baroness. Cruella’s past was jolted back to the front of her present when she saw the Baroness wearing a necklace that belonged to someone she loved. The Baroness complete dismissal of the person hit Cruella hard and she wanted to get revenge plus the necklace back.

This is where the evil side of Cruella took over and we watch her and her partners bond, scheme and do everything they can to bring down the Baroness.

In the end, even though I enjoyed the movie I still did not get for the life of me why they added so many things to make the movie over two hours long. I for one saw the intro of her and her mother a bit too long. They were other parts too that felt way too irrelevant to the main story that could have been cut. Like the many minutes of bonding between the Baroness and Cruella could have been shortened.

Then the movie's major twist, for me, I liked the movie for what it was before the twist.