Review - Cruella (2021)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, I just went to see Cruella, Disney's latest live-action film inspired by their animation library, and here's my take on the film.

        Set in 1970's London, the movie follows Estella, who lost her mother at the hands of a powerful and ruthless fashion designer named The Baroness. With the aid of her close friends Jasper and Horace, Estella eventually gets a job working for The Baroness as a designer. After a number of weeks working for and learning from The Baroness, Estella eventually decides to make a splash in fashion in her own right, creating a new persona to do so: that of unique new fashion designer Cruella. 

        While continuing to aid The Baroness as Estella, she also works to upstage The Baroness and make headlines as Cruella. There are a lot more twists and turns throughout the movie, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't watched it yet. 

          Okay, so admittedly, this movie was not the first time that the character of Cruella de Vil was adapted into live-action as actress Glenn Close previously played the character in a live-action 101 Dalmatians movie back in the 90's, and Victoria Smurfit played the character on ABC's Once Upon a Time during the show's fourth season. However, this film actually introduces a unique origin story for arguably the most iconic Disney villain of all time. And honestly, actress Emma Stone is an excellent choice of actress to portray Cruella. I have enjoyed Emma throughout her career with films like Superbad, Zombieland, The Amazing Spider-Man, just to name a few, so I was definitely interested to see her take on this iconic Disney villain. 

        Emma Thompson is also in the movie as The Baroness, and she does an excellent job as well, showing how ruthless and cutthroat the world of fashion design could really be. Mark Strong, Joel Fry, and Paul Walter Hauser round out the rest of the main cast as John the Valet, and Jasper and Horace respectively. In fact, I thoroughly liked that we see how Cruella first met Jasper and Horace during her childhood, and the three had stuck together ever since. One choice that I thought was a stroke of genius was the choice to set it in the 1970's, at the height of the punk rock era in London. Setting it during this era in time was brilliant, and definitely gives it a unique experience. 

       Much like Glenn Close did back in the 90's, Emma Stone takes the iconic villain from 101 Dalmatians and makes it her own. Another thing that a number of viewers have compared this movie to was Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix in an origin tale of the iconic DC Comics' villain. And, I definitely agree with the comparison. This movie does feel in a similar ballpark as Joker, and that's not a bad thing. The length, however, is a bit of a problem. I think that it ran just a little bit too long, but it made excellent use of the run time with great storytelling. I'm giving Cruella a 4.9/5. This is definitely one to check out whether in theaters or on Disney+. 

       This is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time. 

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