Cruella is quite a unique 12-rated movie, from what I’ve watched before, with the main character being somewhat of an antagonist.
The movie starts to properly begin after a traumatic event for Estella, and she wakes up, hat over her head, to a dog licking her face. Two boys accompany the dog, and all three are thieves. One of the two, Horace, tells her to go back to her mother. Estella stays silent, when the other one, Jasper realises that Estella is an orphan. They hear a whistle and the voice of an officer saying “Oi, thieves!” Assuming Estella’s one of them, they start running with Estella tagging along. She follows them to their hideout without them knowing. She falls and lands in their secret lair, not knowing her hat fell off and Horace and Jasper both notice her hair, which is somehow, half black and the other half white. Estella and the boys remain close for the duration of the story as the events unfold.
What I love the most about the movie is the creative skill of the costume designers. For a long time I had really wanted to become a fashion designer, but I gave up on that dream. I believe that Cruella has sparked that feeling again. Jenny Beavan is incredibly skilled at costume design and I admire her greatly for it. My favourite costume was either Emma Stone’s costume from the Black and White Gala, being lit on fire to be truly revealed, or her costume from when she came out of the trash lorry. Those two were amazingly skilled and must’ve taken a long time to actually pull from concept to reality.
The casting was also totally on point, and Emma Thompson, (best known for Sense and Sensibility, Nanny McPhee and her work in Harry Potter) as the Baroness was a great choice. I enjoyed seeing Emma Stone playing the young Cruella.
The soundtrack was excellent, with the movie being set in the 70’s, and the music was well chosen from that era. I actually knew loads of the songs, with my mum and dad listening to them a lot when I was younger, and watching Stranger Things a few months ago. I love those kinds of songs actually, and I really love the rock genre!
I also loved the chills that this movie gave me around the end of the film, with quite the plot twist. I didn’t find anything I truly dislike about the movie, but in my opinion, there was a bit of a fast pace a high intensity plot resolution close to the end.
It is directed by Craig Gillespie (Best known for I, Tonya and also another Disney production Million Dollar Arm) and produced by Andrew Gunn (Freaky Friday and Sky High)
Overall, the movie is definitely worth watching if you’re a fan of the live action genre! In my opinion, it tops all the other Disney movies I’ve ever seen! As you can tell from what you’ve read, I definitely rate this 5 stars out of 5!
Niamh Ferguson aged 11 & 5/6!!
