Student Blog: I Finally Saw 'Cruella' and I Have a LOT of Questions

I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of the live action wave that has been sweeping the movie industry for the last few years. I have so much attachment to the original Disney cartoons from watching them countless times as a child that I can't seem to fairly judge or appreciate the new takes on these classic stories. That being said, I couldn't resist seeing Emma Stone tackle one of the bougiest villains to hit the silver screen, Cruella de Vil. I was greatly looking forward to seeing the arc of her villain origin story, as well as hitting the movie theatre for the first time since the pandemic began. That being said, after the movie was finished, I was just... confused? Let's jump into some of my most pressing thoughts, but reader beware, spoilers lie ahead.

-While I adore Emma Stone, I couldn't help wondering why they didn't cast a British actress for the British Cruella...

-WHY was it so LONG? I was more or less enjoying it for the first hour or so, but the extravagant film ran for TWO HOURS AND FOURTEEN MINUTES. There were at least three different places in the narrative that would've made total sense to finish the movie at, but no, let's drag this thing out for as long as humanly possible. And I applaud them for that! Giving the people what they paid for!

-The pretzel nuggets I ordered were stale and too salty...oh wait, that's not related to the actual movie. Still upsetting though.

-What was the deal with Cruella's HAIR? We never got any sort of explanation about why on earth her hair was half white and half black, yet it played a somewhat large part in different parts of the plot. So many questions left unanswered.

-When did the movie establish that Cruella was talking to the random fountain like it was her mother? There was a monologue towards the end after Cruella hops off of her stolen motorcycle and addresses her dead adoptive mother while staring at the fountain, which she has been talking to at various points throughout the movie. However, in almost every earlier shot of Cruella speaking to the fountain, she was there with her dog(s) and the fountain wasn't really a focal point, so I just assumed she was talking to her dog or herself...

-Were Cruella and Jasper dating? Their relationship was confusing. It was hard to tell if they had a brother/sister bond or were attracted to each other. Whatever it was, the nature of their relationship definitely felt a little bit suspicious and uncomfortable.

-Why did Jasper and Horace put up with Estella turning into Cruella and being horrible to them? If my best friend started acting like an absolute tyrant, I would kick her out of my house before you could say, "My mother who was not actually my mother was murdered by my actual mother's dalmatians".

-Why did everyone just go along with Estella changing her name to Cruella? If one of my best friends wanted to change their name to some goofy alter-ego villain name, I would laugh them out of the room. But for some reason, Jasper and Horace just accepted it with open arms. Major pushovers.

-Some of the shots were seriously dizzying! The camera moved so fast that my eyes couldn't focus half the time. Did I miss important stuff because of this? Maybe. Who knows?

-Finally, I know this is going to sound horribly mean, but who wrote the script? The plot sometimes felt like they listened to a group of five-year-olds describe their perfect movie- lots of wild fashion, a bedazzled garbage truck, people dying but somehow actually surviving multiple times, and a surprise mother reveal.

The costumes were gorgeous, and the music was rocking, but the overall the movie...well, you read what I said already. That being said, go see it for yourself! It's definitely quite an experience.

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