Cruella review: A fashion statement no one asked for | Entertainment

At least it’s not the Lion King remake.

Cruella is Disney’s newest live-action movie, this time telling the story of classic 101 Dalmatians villain Cruella de Vil. The film was written by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara and was directed by Craig Gillespie, who previously directed I, Tonya.

The film follows Estella, aka Cruella, as she makes a scene in the 1970s fashion world in London. She is joined by her minions Jasper and Horace as they compete with Baroness von Hellman, the leading fashion designer of the time.

Cruella is arguably one of the best live-action Disney movies in recent memory, but it’s struggling to justify its existence to audiences.

Emma Stone stars as Cruella and she gives a delightfully mean performance. She does a good job of switching between her two halves of Cruella and Estella, each having slight differences. Stone seems to have an evil time in the role, as she really plays into the showy aspects of the character.

In front of her is Emma Thompson as Baroness. She works very well as a rival to Cruellas, offering a similar air of confidence and narcissism. She also plays the character in a very pompous manner, which helps make her a sympathetic villain that you can root yourself against.

Alongside Stone are Jasper and Horace played by Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser respectively. They primarily act as the comic relief from the movie, but they didn’t feel boring. They each have different strengths as well, making them a pretty dynamic duo. They are both clumsy but capable members of the Cruellas crew.

The last performance of note is John McCrea as Artie, a new character in the film. He plays a flamboyant fashion designer inspired by David Bowie who teams up with Cruella. He gives a fun performance that complements the rest of the character cast and also works to flesh out the fashion aspect of the film, giving it a more robust presence.

Speaking of which, this movie is very fashionable which is one of the strongest aspects of the movie. The film features extravagant and elaborate dresses and costumes. There was a lot of attention paid to costume design in this movie and it shows, as it works in terms of display features and work in the narrative.

However, the narrative itself is one of the weakest parts of the film. For the most part, it does a pretty good job of setting up the motivations and pushing the plot forward. This movie also does a pretty decent job of bringing in more recent information that recontextualizes the characters later on. However, the film contains two major issues in terms of history.

The first issue is an unnecessary narration from Emma Stone. It’s so unnecessary that it disappears from the movie for a while, showing how unnecessary it is. All it does is repeat the same information that was previously shown or explain parts of the story to the audience. It doesn’t work and ends up being more distracting than anything else.

The other problem with the story is the rhythm. This movie is too long, with several sections at the start and end that drag on for a while. Usually its length helps flesh out the characters, which it does well. But about 20 minutes could have been cut without losing anything.

Besides the story, some of the other technical parts of the film are done in style. The cinematography is elegant, with fluid shots that reflect the awe-inspiring nature of the film and the setting. The color of the film is also quite good, especially for making certain colors stand out a lot more. It helps to make the film more kinetic.

This kinetic energy is also reflected in the edit, especially in the middle part of the film. There are a few elegant choices brought to the table, especially with the use of newspaper headlines that appear during edits. In general, he’s good at setting a fast tempo that works with the movie.

Finally, the soundtrack of the film fits into the punk aesthetic of the film. It is mostly made up of rock songs from the 60s and 70s and they are used with great effect. However, he could have used a little more real punk rock, as he would have really sold the nature that the film is aimed at. But it still works.

Overall, Cruella is a good movie. Its well done with a great punk aspect which is showcased in the performances, the soundtrack and the excellent mode.

Some elements of the story don’t come together completely, especially the film’s narration. That never really provides a reason why this movie was supposed to happen. That’s fine, but it’s unclear why the Cruellas story had to be told. It’s reminiscent of movies like Joker, but lacks the social commentary and compelling features.

It’s not a bad time. In fact, it was quite a pleasant experience, especially when the movie played into the wicked, punky nature of the character. By the end of the movie, the sense of necessity never arose, further reinforcing the fact that this movie didn’t need to happen.

If that’s a sentiment, it’s the best live-action Disney movie in a long time, so that’s fine for it.

3/5 torches