Review of Cruella (2021) by Methias — 05 Jun 2021

Doing for this human Disney villain what Angelina Jolie did for Maleficent, Emma Stone portrays a character who was once nothing but an evil character in a story that was a book, and then a film (sevearl times over) and now, she has her own origin story.

Looking at the way things are, we're seeing these origin story films taking off. We've had it with Maleficent, We've had it with Joker and now we've got the one and only Cruella DeVil. While normally I am not one to go for milking characters from franchises, I can say this story was more dark and twisted than I expected. While it's not a film you could stick the youngest kids in front of, it's certainly one that is a nice nod to those of the generation who grew up with this classic character.

There are a few changes that take you by surprise, such as how Cruella is not as heartless as she's seen to be in the story book or the original Disney animation classic, but she is shown to have a natural side of malice to her, which comes from her mother. Yet, the kindness in her comes from her father, which shines in her in the last minutes of the film.

Emma Stone was someone I never would of personally pegged to play s uch a character, yet I am happily proven wrong by her amazing acting skills. Watching her on screen, she takes you through several emotions ranging from cheering her on, to wondering if you really want to like her anymore, to feeling sympathy for her to feeling joy at her long overdue triumph.

The film gives several nods to things people who know the original story of 101 Dalmatians, such as the three savage Dalmatians owned by the Baroness, the mention of how Cruella thinks they'd make a fantastic coat. The mention of how the car she obtains, which is pointed out by Horace to called a DeVil, is a name she likes so she adopts it as her last name. Then of course we get the appearance of Pongo and Perdita, the famous Dalmatian duo appearing in the final moments of the film.

Overall, this film is a wonderful watch, one I could indeed watch again in a short while as it's just well done and good from start to finish. The only thing I feel is a little issue is how it panders to sme political correctness with some race changes, but it's not the worst thing.

Other than that, it's a very emotional story telling of how one girl born different grows up thinking she needs to shun who she truly is to get anywhere. And only when does she embrace those differences does her power shine through and she begins to become the Queen inside she knows she is. It's a bit of a classic tale, one which teaches you to that being who you are is the best thing to be. Though, this telling of that classic lesson twists it up by not hiding the fact that anyone can find bad parts to the true selves. It's down to deciding who you want to be is where you'll find out if you're good or bad.

By the end of the film, it's really down to the viewer to decide whether if Cruella is as bad as she was originally shown to be, or if there's more to this character than we ever knew.

Will there be a sequel? Knowing Disney, it's probably already in the works. But with what's been set up, there's a chance they could make it work. Do I want to see a sequel? I'm half and half on that. But only time will tell if it will happen and if it'll be any good if it does.

The film is a 9/10. A win for Disney, hands down.