Cruella (2021)Movies

This nigh-mirthless pseudo-comedy reimagining of One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) serves as a live-action “she’s the boss” vehicle for Cruella de Vil (Emma Stone), with the lame CGI dogs relegated to unfabulous supporting roles. A prologue depicts Cruella’s origin as the mischievous, Mr. Hyde-style alter ego of English schoolgirl Estella (Tipper Seifert-Cleveland), who falls in with a gang of pickpockets after being tragically plunged into orphandom. The Cruella persona gets suppressed until Estella (Stone) grows up and finds herself toiling for imperious fashion mogul the Baroness (scenery-chewing and unrecognizably vile Emma Thompson) – a woman Estella comes to believe is responsible for her mother’s death. Determined to topple the Baroness, Estella lapses back into...