Cats Reviews

Obviously, I didn’t expect much from this movie but I have to admit that I was quite curious to see if it was really so bad after all. Well, first of all, it was slightly difficult to judge this movie as I’m completely unfamiliar with the musical it was based on. I mean, putting aside the countless issues regarding this adaptation, it still seemed to be a really weird and surreal musical focusing on some anthropomorphic cats. The lack of plot is basically hidden behind a non-stop succession of songs but, to be honest, it did seem narratively rather weak. Anyway, even if I’m still not convinced by the actual potential of the original classic musical, there is no doubt that they completely botched this adaptation though. Indeed, instead of wearing some silly cat costumes, they thought it would be a great idea to go full-on CGI but the end-result was just awful. The CGI team complained that the production had been rushed but, even if they had been given more time, it would still have been ugly as hell and the concept was just completely misguided. On top of that, not only the characters looked seriously weird but also all their surroundings and background looked completely fake as well. At some point, Spielberg was actually trying to adapt it as an animated feature which might have been a better idea. Coming back on the CGI, they also took the opportunity to completely white-wash Francesca Hayward. Indeed, even though Hayward is a beautiful black woman, she actually played the whitest cat of the bunch which was again another misguided choice. Concerning the songs, I have to admit that they were not bad but, like the rest of the movie, they all felt weird and surreal. On the other hand, I still think that Jennifer Hudson’s solo song was actually quite beautiful and actually saved this movie from becoming a complete disaster. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing does deserve its abysmal reputation and you should definitely avoid it. 

‘Cats’ by Andrew Lloyd Webber isn’t my favorite musical because, while it is visually brilliant and beautifully sung, the story is very light and minimal and the style is very dated. Nevertheless, the show was the longest-running musical from the early 1980’s until the late 90’s and started the long trend of family-friendly mega-blockbusters on Broadway. Based on a collection of poems by T.S. Eliot, ‘Cats’ the musical introduces one Jellicle cat, it sings a dynamic number and gets cast aside among the ensemble, rinse and repeat, like fashion models on the runway. As for Cats the movie, Tom Hooper gives an already incoherent narrative a plot so the movie would seem real to the cinematic eye. Victoria the White Cat (Francesca Hayward), who has no dialogue and one dance number in the show, is the main character who goes through a journey, I guess, but barely does anything to earn her Jellicle trophy. Macavity (Idris Elba) has more screen time than the episodic show as the antagonist who kidnaps other Jellicle cats: Asparagus (Ian McKellan), Jennyanydots (Rebel Wilson), Bustopher Jones (James Corden), and Old Deuteronomy (Judi Dench). Lastly, Hooper feeds the script with terrible cat puns on par with the ones from Catwoman and suggests an even worse adlib job from Corden and Wilson. The only redeeming value in Cats the movie is the song soundtrack, performed by giants like Jennifer Hudson and Taylor Swift. Even ballerina Miss Hayward produces a beautiful innocent voice in her feature debut to incorporate with her dancing talents. Beyond that, I’ll forgive the hideous humanoid cat special effects, but with the story mixed into an already plotless musical, Cats was a complete mess.

(1 ½ Scary CGI Jellicles out of 5)