Ixchel Perez

Between insulting international fanbases, multiple cases of staff mistreatment, and being a walking Macbeth curse for movie musicals since 2014, it is a miracle that this man is still on late night. CBS would be better off with the Late Show with Stephen Colbert followed a nightly rerun of the Star Wars Special than more nights with Mr. Corden. There is perhaps no better time than now (or even yesterday) for a triumphant return of a legendary O’Brien.

So there are good things about this movie. The dynamic power of Emma Stone vs. Emma Thompson is electric. I loved it. The fashion was great. The music was... better employed than Suicide Squad. Oh, did I mention the fashion was cool? Cool. HOWEVER, the movie is trying to do too many things and they counteract each other. The movie tried to do “The Devil Wears Prada AND Joker... but make it Disney.” If Cruella had focused on one or the other, it would have been great. But by doing both, each storyline shoots the other in the foot. And I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but I was actually reminded of a kid (or movie) trying WAAAAAAAAAY too hard to be cool to the point that it’s uncomfortable. I related more with and remembered more about Emma Thompson’s character, and she’s not even the titular character. Cruella is Disney’s desperate attempt at fixing their live action movies and it shows. I mean, A for effort - I think it’s a good direction for Disney. But it just makes you wonder where the ingenuity and creativity went with the company. It’s hard to imagine that Cruella came from the same company as both 101 Dalmatians movies. The fashion was nice though.