Review of Cruella (2021) by Jluis_001 — 29 May 2021

Disney has done it again.

In its constant eagerness to remake its animated characters in live-action, now it was Cruella de Vil's turn, and she received the same treatment Maleficent received.

The villain turned anti-hero.

Yet once again the same question arises: Why?

And sure, the complete and total answer would be money, but Disney seems more focused on giving cool characters to the new generations, while omitting their past in the animated classics.

And I guess it's fair, not much of the public has seen or will see those films, even kids, therefore a story like this, designed to be visually impressive, becomes quite attractive for the general audiences.

And Cruella is all about making a visual impact, and I know how to appreciate good work in terms of costumes, sets, music and production, but I also pay a lot attention to the script, and Cruella is more about style than substance, and that creates a gap that nothing else in it can fill, and it's hugely unsatisfying.

Emma Stone and Emma Thompson are the attractive force in acting terms, battling to see who's the biggest **** but the appeal becomes tedious after a while, much like the montage in which Cruella crashes several events of the Baroness played by Thompson.

We understand it, she's kinda punk, aggressive and audacious, they didn't have to sell it in such a persistent and repetitive way, especially considering that these scenes are only made to show off the costume work, not because it adds anything to the story.

The rest of the cast is criminally wasted, especially Mark Strong who's only there for one important scene.

Cruella is more of an audiovisual show, than a true tale.

Yes, there's an origin story there, of course, but this ultimately says nothing at all.

Do you want to meet the real Cruella de Vil, the actual villain? Watch 101 Dalmatians.