Brilliant. Bad. A little bit mad. May 2021.
Academy Award® winner Emma Stone (“La La Land”) stars in Disney’s “Cruella,” an all-new live-action feature film about the rebellious early days of one of cinemas most notorious – and notoriously fashionable – villains, the legendary Cruella de Vil. “Cruella,” which is set in 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, follows a young grifter named Estella, a clever and creative girl determined to make a name for herself with her designs. She befriends a pair of young thieves who appreciate her appetite for mischief, and together they are able to build a life for themselves on the London streets. One day, Estella’s flair for fashion catches the eye of the Baroness von Hellman, a fashion legend who is devastatingly chic and terrifyingly haute, played by two-time Oscar® winner Emma Thompson (“Howards End,” “Sense & Sensibility”). But their relationship sets in motion a course of events and revelations that will cause Estella to embrace her wicked side and become the raucous, fashionable and revenge-bent Cruella.
Disney’s “Cruella” is directed by Craig Gillespie (“I Tonya”) from a screenplay by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara, story by Aline Brosh McKenna and Kelly Marcel & Steve Zissis. It was produced by Andrew Gunn (“Freaky Friday”), Marc Platt (“Mary Poppins Returns”) and Kristin Burr (“Christopher Robin”), with Emma Stone, Michelle Wright, Jared LeBoff and Glenn Close serving as executive producers. Two-time Oscar®- winning costume designer Jenny Beavan (“Mad Max: Fury Road,” “A Room with a View”) creates the dazzling and imaginative costumes, which take on a life of their own.
The first trailer for “Cruella, 2021” has dropped. It’s a quick one and very light on story elements. We get our first look at Emma Stone in costume as Cruella de Vil, as well as the other great costume and set pieces in the film.
It all looks great, but I can’t help but wonder;
Is this something that anyone asked for? Is this some sort of attempt to pay a debt that was owed behind the scenes? Or perhaps this is the result of a bet.
Who is to say.
It is difficult to tell from the trailer what direction the story will take. One would imagine that taking the sympathetic approach similar to the one taken in “Maleficent, 2014” would be difficult to do for a character like Cruella de Vil. We know the puppy paved road that Cruella ends up on, how could we possibly sympathize with any sort of prequel.
Which of course leads us to the second route this film could take; The path of the Joker. A woman let down by society and forced down a path of crime and villainy. Sure, it still paints Cruella with a somewhat sympathetic brush but at least we can see her embrace the darker parts rather than have the film try to justify her actions.
Overall, “Cruella” does look interesting.
Emma Stone looks great in the role. The costumes look top notch. As a Disney film, I am sure that the music will be on point as well. Until “Cruella” is released in May of this year, we will just have to wait for another trailer to get a better idea of the story.