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BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Cruella (2021) in Movies

Jun 13, 2021

Cruella (2021)

2021 | Comedy, Crime

8.0

(24 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Fights to find the right tone - but succeeds more than it fails

The new Disney live action film CRUELLA (telling the origin story of one of the most well known villains in Disney animation history) is one of those strange films that is trying to walk a thin line between “G” rated “kid” entertainment and an “R” rated film intended for a more “mature” audience.

An that, ultimately, is the issue with this film, it bounces around tonally - sometimes bumping up against the “G” rating and often times landing closer to the “R”, so that, in the end, it will not be a totally satisfying experience for either the “G” or the “R” crowd.

Emma Stone takes on the title role of CRUELLA and in this film you watch her become the Cruella DeVille that you see in the Disney Animated Film (and the Glenn Close live action remake). Stone is very good in this role - almost a perfect fit. However, it looks to me that she is having a much better time playing the evil “R” rated version of Cruella rather then the comic-bookish “G” rated version, so her performance is, at times, brilliant and at other times, not as brillaint.

Emma Thompson steals just about every scene she is in as Cruella’s nemesis “The Baroness”. It’s good to see this terrific actress getting a role that she can really sink her teeth in. I hope this leads to other, strong important roles for this actress “of a certain age”.

The supporting players are strong…or should I say…Mark Strong (hehehehe). He brings his usual gravitas to the role of The Baroness’ right-hand man. But the players who impressed me the most were Joel Fry (YESTERDAY) and Paul Walter Hauser (RICHARD JEWELL) as Cruella’s 2 best friends/henchmen. They both were able to flesh out these characters (who are usually portrayed as bumbling buffoons) and both were able to find the line between “G” and “R” very well - and stay on it the entire film.

Director Craig Gillespie (I, TONYA) finds the correct tone for this film more often than not, but it is in the “not” portion of this that he fails this movie. The shifts in tone (often on a dime) are often jarring and the blame for this would have to be put right at the Director’s feet, though the look of this film (sort of a 1960’s Austin Powers meets SteamPunk look) succeeds VERY well and is as much a character in this film as the performers.

One final thing, the soundtrack used in CRUELLA is an interesting touch. Gillespie and Composer Nicholas Britell eschews (for the most part) a conventional score and highlights most of the scenes with a Pop song - though here Gillespie whips us around tonally as well. For, since the film is set in 1960’s London, a good many of the tunes used are ‘60 (and early ‘70’s) rock hits. But….every now and then…he will drop in a ‘80’s number.

But…as I sit and write this review, I am finding myself falling more and more on the side of “I Liked It”, so…set aside the tonal shifts…and you will be entertained by CRUELLA much more than you would expect.

Letter Grade: B+

7 1/2 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)

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Ollie SB (2279 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in Video Games

Feb 20, 2020 (Updated Feb 20, 2020)

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

2019 | Action/Adventure, Fighting

7.9

(14 Ratings)

Video Game Rating Watch

Lightsaber combat, visuals (0 more)

Some missions seem to drag a bit (0 more)

Probably the best Star Wars game so far

There are so many great aspects of this game, mainly, the amazing lightsaber combat. Any Star Wars fan will have hoped to live the fantasy of owning their own lightsaber, and this game is as close as it gets. The combinations of fighting styles, from lightsaber to various force powers, are incredible.

The customisation options in this game are also impressive. You can customise the colour of your ship, droid, clothes, and most importantly, your lightsaber. There are various options for the saber, from the colour and style of the handle, to the colour of the blade.

Another impressive aspect of the game is the quality and depth of the story. Set a few years after the events of Episode III, it follows a young jedi named Cal, who is on the run from the Inquisitors who are hunting down any remaining jedi. The game features flashbacks to a younger Cal in training, which helps the player to learn new force powers. One negative I found was that some of the early missions in the story seem to drag slightly. There seems to be a lot of climbing and jumping between ledges, without much of the impressive action that features later in the game.

However, this a small negative in a very impressive game, and the tempo of the story does pick up later on. Reaching an amazing final mission, which (no spoilers) in my opinion features one of the best video game cut scenes I've seen.

I would highly recommend this game.