Cruella Review: Relies too Heavily on the Lead Actors!

Cruella is a 2021 crime-comedy starring Academy-award-winning actor Emma Stone as the lead and Emma Thompson in a supporting role (also an Academy Award winner). Premiered at the same time on both Disney+ and in theaters, it seems that Disney is continuing its trend of highlighting their prolific villains and once again emphasizing to us that we’re all bad guys in someone’s story.

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Being a huge longtime fan of both 101 Dalmatians (1961) and Emma Stone, I was excited to see Cruella’s origin story in the narrative. Stone plays the colorful creative who, after a series of adverse situations, lands a coveted job with The Baroness (Emma Thompson). The haughty Baroness owns the leading Fashion House in London, and we quickly see who Cruella’s cruelty is channeled from.

Cruella is very reminiscent of Devil Wears Prada, to a point where it almost overshadows every other part of the story. The dynamic between Cruella and the Baroness is indeed the highlight. Cruella both despises and admires the Baroness in equal measure. She’s in awe of not only her talents and position but the attitude with which she wields her authority. The dynamic between this mentor and mentee is palpable as they see each other in themselves. I enjoyed Emma Stone and Thompson’s interactions on screen.

The opulent fashion displayed adds to the production value however, the CGI dogs could have used some work. It’s not really to form with the original story, given that the original came out in 1961. I believe choosing the 70s as the setting was purely for creative purposes with regards to fashion. I liked that they included the characters of Jasper and Horace, played by Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser, respectively, but they’re used as little more than prop pieces, to be honest.

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Cruella is longer than it should be two hours is just not justifiable. The storyline itself is shakey, and I don’t believe it’s enough in terms of character motivation for us to see how Cruella ultimately became who she was. Especially given how her story played out. In all, it fell flat by relying too heavily on fashion pieces and the actress’ charm to keep us entertained. Watch Cruella on Disney+ Premier Access here.

‘Cruella’ Rating – 3/5

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