TL;DR version: The fashion aspect is a sideshow to a good ole fashioned revenge/heist story, solid 7/10 movie.

Now for the long form review, I’m going to start with the bad and work my way to the good.

The Bad

- Typical Hollywood diversity nonsense. Why is Anita Darling black and Roger middle eastern? Because fricking Hollywood.
- Quite using CGI animals you nutsacks. Animals that exist naturally in our world (like Dalmatians) don’t need to be overly expressive. It’s one thing if you are using completely mythological or fantasy creatures that you can’t possible recreate or if you are doing an entirely CGI movie like TLK or Jungle Book, but sweet Jesus you a CGI Dalmatian looking cartoonish in the same scene as a adorable little chihuahua. Knock that shite off.

The Neutral

- Oh look you can naturally include a gay character without his sexuality being out of place, celebrated, or mattering whatsoever. Gay dudes in fashion, no one gets offended because that’s not ridiculous nor did you make him a hero. You want good representation for Alphabets? That’s what you aim for. The only reason I didn’t put this in the good category is because homeboy was an obvious rip off of Davis Bowie.

The Good

- The plot was simple, concise, and straightforward. No reinventing the wheel, no unnecessary plot lines or detours, no experimentation with crap no one cares about. If you are looking for some epic original screenplay that challenges you on a human level, frick off that’s not what entertainment is for. And before someone mentions plot holes like a nut sack, I have no idea when Cruella sleeps given the schedule she keeps in this movie but does anyone sleep in movies or tv shows?

- The cast was amazing. I’ll try to keep it focused with each of them...

Emma Stone has charm and charisma out in spades. It’s a shame that she is just now really getting acclaim and blockbuster roles because she is immensely more likable than her contemporaries (looking at you Jennifer Lawrence).

Emma Thompson is a great cutthroat bitch.

Mark Strong is such an underrated actor. Few actors can say a lot without opening their mouth and uttering a single sound but he’s one of them. He’s not in that James Spader/Giancarlo Esposito territory, but he’s pert near it.

Paul Walter Hauser is a superstar. Good to see a hefty boy get to show off some range in a movie other than being a slob or dimwitted fat arse. Hope Covid hasn’t dimmed his rising star.

Now the real revelation was the girl who played young Cruella. She showed more range and talent in 20 or so minutes than Millie Bobbie Brown has shown in 3 seasons of Stranger Things. Some kids have some talent that has to be pulled out of them by acting coaches or great directors, but occasionally you just find someone who you know has that sauce and you just strap a rocket on their back and send them to the moon. I would be shocked if Disney doesn’t make her part of their next generation of core stars.

Anyways, if your sweetie asks you to watch it, it’s not the worst thing in the world to spend an afternoon or night doing.