Cruella

in movie theaters or Disney+    PG-13    2h 14min    2021

Hooray, cinemas are open again – but this movie probably wouldn’t have made it to be my first choice without a friendly nudge … Thanks again for that, because the film turned out to be so much better than expected.

Presumably the Disney character Cruella de Vil doesn’t require an introduction – that evil character who wants to turn those cute 101 Dalmatian puppies into a coat. There’s the animation movie as well as the live-action portrayal by Glenn Close. Cruella serves as the prequel, illustrating childhood and development of this villainess – which could be explained as a crossover of a (fictional) Vivianne Westwood biography, “The Devil Wears Prada” and Snow White. And that’s all I want to say about it.

First of all, it’s already a pleasure to watch the two award-winning Emmas at work. They seemed to have a lot of fun acting out as their nastiest on screen. Emma Stone actually manages to give the evil Cruella a (comprehensible) human dimension. And this is accompanied by great music channeling the Swinging London feeling as well as the early Punk movement: The Doors, Deep Purple, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Queen, Black Sabbath, Rolling Stones, Ike & Tina Turner, ELO, The Clash – just to name a few. Then those robes! I’m really not into fashion – but I would enjoy wearing one of those… Compliments to the costume department!

In short, 2+h of excellent entertainment – what more could you want in a hot summer!

Director: Craig Gillespie
Screenplay: Dana Fox, Tony McNamara, Aline Brosh McKenna

Cast:

Emma Stone Estella / Cruella
Emma Thompson The Baroness
Joel Fry Jasper
Paul Walter Hauser Horace
John McCrea Artie
Emily Beecham Catherine / Maid
Mark Strong John the Valet