Cruella Movie Review

“How does the saying go? I am woman. Here me ROAR!” -Cruella 

We had the chance to see an early screening of Disney’s newest movie, “Cruella.” To say this is the performance of a lifetime by Emma Stone, is an understatement. I was seriously in awe of the creativeness of the story line, the acting, the costumes, the hair and makeup, pretty much everything. Let’s go into more of the details with my Cruella Movie Review…

Brief Synopsis: “Cruella” is an all-new live-action film about the rebellious, early days of the notorious villain, Cruella de Vil. Set in 1970s London and follows a young outcast and orphan named Estella, a clever and creative girl determined to make a name for herself with her designs. She finds a family by befriending young thieves and fellow orphans, Horace and Jasper. One day, Estella’s flair for fashion catches the eye of the Baroness von Hellman, a fashion legend who is dangerously chic, played by Emma Thompson. But their relationship sets in motion a course of events and revelations that will cause Estella to embrace her wicked side and become the revenge seeking, fashionable Cruella that we know today.

Release Date: “Cruella” releases in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access for a one-time additional fee on May 28, 2021. 

Rating: PG-13 

Length: 134 minutes

Other: I always try to be as honest as possible to let you know if I think movies are adult only or appropriate for kids, but as always you know your child best! My kids are 6 and 8 and they did watch the movie with me and loved it. There was no noticeable bad words, or sexual references. I would guess that it is rated PG-13 because the overall theme of the movie is very dark. SPOILER: In the opening scene, Estella’s mom is thrown off the cliff being attacked by vicious looking Dalmatian dogs. I warned my children that the mom was going to die before we started the movie and went over that movies are just pretend and these are all just actors. 

No dogs were ever harmed in the film, in fact, Cruella is very kind to all the dogs, even the ones that caused her mother’s death. Turns out she has a soft spot for dogs.

The movie is a bit long for young kids, even mine got a little restless towards the end, but everything was perfectly tied together! 

The film reminded me of the first Malificent movie, which gives you the complete back story of how this evil character came to be the way they are and why. It is such a great concept to teach the world, that people are not always what they seem, that there is always more to the story, that you can’t understand someone completely until you walk a mile in their shoes. Again, we LOVED this movie and suggest you put it on your MUST WATCH list asap!

Fun facts: Did you know, there are 152 wigs used in just the Marie Antoinette ball alone? Only 3 cakes were made for the black and white ball, so they had to get the scene in 3 tries, but they did it in 2. Cruella had 47 costume changes throughout the movie and there were 16 canine performers.

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