Cruella (2021)
Country: US/GB
Technical: col 134m
Director: Craig Gillespie
Cast: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Mark Strong
Synopsis:
Young Estella's temper gets her into no end of scrapes, causing her mother to throw herself on the mercy of a former employer when she is expelled from her last school. A Dickensian childhood follows in which she makes firm friends and hones her inherited skills as a seamstress. But the mysterious figure from the past crosses her path again.
Review:
Like other attempts at reforming fairytale villainy, such as Maleficent, this agreeable fantasy goes for prehistory and fashions a plausible explanation for later misapprehensions, while leaving room for the inevitable sequel: a new version of 101 Dalmatians. The handling avoids the bombast of a Disney, however, and opts instead for the humour and live action thrills of a Paddington (cue plenty of CGI-assisted mutts). The two Emmas manage to tread a line through all this, the one channelling Meryl Streep's infamous fashion doyenne, the other dazzling us with her split personality portrayal of the adult Cruella in a masterclass of physical performance. On the negative side, the writing is not of uniform quality and the screenplay potters from one set piece to the next, adroitly choreographed to the appropriate hit song but lacking overall unity.
Country: US/GB
Technical: col 134m
Director: Craig Gillespie
Cast: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Mark Strong
Synopsis:
Young Estella's temper gets her into no end of scrapes, causing her mother to throw herself on the mercy of a former employer when she is expelled from her last school. A Dickensian childhood follows in which she makes firm friends and hones her inherited skills as a seamstress. But the mysterious figure from the past crosses her path again.
Review:
Like other attempts at reforming fairytale villainy, such as Maleficent, this agreeable fantasy goes for prehistory and fashions a plausible explanation for later misapprehensions, while leaving room for the inevitable sequel: a new version of 101 Dalmatians. The handling avoids the bombast of a Disney, however, and opts instead for the humour and live action thrills of a Paddington (cue plenty of CGI-assisted mutts). The two Emmas manage to tread a line through all this, the one channelling Meryl Streep's infamous fashion doyenne, the other dazzling us with her split personality portrayal of the adult Cruella in a masterclass of physical performance. On the negative side, the writing is not of uniform quality and the screenplay potters from one set piece to the next, adroitly choreographed to the appropriate hit song but lacking overall unity.
Country: US/GB
Technical: col 134m
Director: Craig Gillespie
Cast: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Mark Strong
Synopsis:
Young Estella's temper gets her into no end of scrapes, causing her mother to throw herself on the mercy of a former employer when she is expelled from her last school. A Dickensian childhood follows in which she makes firm friends and hones her inherited skills as a seamstress. But the mysterious figure from the past crosses her path again.
Review:
Like other attempts at reforming fairytale villainy, such as Maleficent, this agreeable fantasy goes for prehistory and fashions a plausible explanation for later misapprehensions, while leaving room for the inevitable sequel: a new version of 101 Dalmatians. The handling avoids the bombast of a Disney, however, and opts instead for the humour and live action thrills of a Paddington (cue plenty of CGI-assisted mutts). The two Emmas manage to tread a line through all this, the one channelling Meryl Streep's infamous fashion doyenne, the other dazzling us with her split personality portrayal of the adult Cruella in a masterclass of physical performance. On the negative side, the writing is not of uniform quality and the screenplay potters from one set piece to the next, adroitly choreographed to the appropriate hit song but lacking overall unity.