Cats - The Review
Less than Perrrfect
Umm Ok just where did this go wrong?
The musical is a well established classic, the cast was filled with musical and acting talent, director Tom Hooper is no stranger to great movies (The Danish Girl, the Kings Speech, The Damed united and his previous musical experience and award winner Les Miserables).
Everything behind Cats had hit written all over it and yet what we get is one of the biggest disappointments in recent years.
Its not all bad tho..........
The High Notes.
When it's good, it's very good.
Cats is known for some classic musical numbers and when these songs appear they are done perfectly. Memories, Mr Mistofoles, Macavaty are the main stand out hits and are a joy to sit through.
The vocal talent on show is very impressive, we mentioned the hits above and what cant be ignored is how strong the singers are.
Jennifer Hudson easily steals the show with her rendition of Memories, its a fantastic version of a classic and this along doesn't deserve the bad press the film got. Close behind JHud is Taylor Swift, not quite experienced in the movie world but her vocal talent cant be denied and when she finally appears in Cats its a kind reminder of what the film could of been.
Even Jason Derulo isnt out of place when he performs The Rum Tum Tugger.
The final third is 1000 times better than the rest. From Taylors rendition of Macavity untill the end is a great film. It's hit after hit musically and it just works.
It's a shame that we have to sit through the first 2 thirds to get here.
There is just something about this film I cant turn off.
5 minutes into Cats and I knew it wasn't great. Even ignoring all the bad reports and deciding to make my own opinion I could not hide behind how bad it seemed.
However there is something about Cats which i couldn't turn off. Get to halfway and I found my self wanting to watch until the end.
I even found my self wanting to go back and watch it again for a second time, I'm not sure if this was just to see the hits again, or to clarify if it was as bad as i thought.
The Low points.
WOW when this is bad it's awful.
Nothing in this world can prepare you for the look of the film. One thing that the stage show is known for is the makeup, humans who are dressed as cats.
Cats the Movie tried to take a Cat and throw a human face on it, its off putting and doesn't look right
ITS WEIRD!!!!!!
The Story is actually really weak. Cats is all about a group of street Cats who once a year attend a Jellical Ball. At the Ball 1 cat is named to take a journey to the Heaviside Layer for reincarnation (yep they basically nominate 1 cat to die and be reincarnated)
The movies villain is a Cat called Macavity who spends most of the film off camera and posing no threat at all. It's only in the second act that he starts kidnapping Cats onto his boat.
You never really care about the villain or the threat he is meant to pose in fact he seems to come across as a secondly element to the movie, remove him from the film and it doesnt change much.
Wasted Star studded cast.
The cast list for this film is impressive, Dame Judy Dench, Sir Ian McKellan, Idris Elba, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, Rebel Wilson, Ray Winstone, James Cordon.
However none of these really gets the time to shine (Hudson and Swift take there moments when they can).
Each Star gets an average of 5- 7 mins of key screen time, Dame Judy Dench and Sir Ian McKellen don't fall fowl in this film but with there talent I wouldn't expect them to, however neither of them exactly shine either.
The CGI is Just shocking.
The fact the studio had to re-release this with fixed CGI tells you a lot. The faces on these cats just don't look right, like amateur hour at the CGI house.
The CGI effects cause a lot of issue on this film, They take way from some of the good music and good that in the film.
Given the technology we have at our disposal in 2020 there really isnt any excuse for bad CGI.
The Bum Notes.
James Corden. Anyone who watched "into the Woods" will know James doesn't have the best vocals in the world, and I have no desire to see him musically perform again.
Yes he can act, and has some great comedy talent but this was jus a wasted performance that seemed to be used just to get a big name on the credits.
Rebel Wilson, Firstly I want to note that i actually Like Rebel, i think she has a great talent and is very funny.
BUT...... please find a different performance apart from the clumsy slightly dumb big girl.
If you want to see Rebel perform this role well then watch any of the "Pitch Perfect" films.
It's starting to get a bit boring.
What the Hell is a Jellical Cat?????
The Musical is actually just a weird.
I don't put all the blame of this failure on the makers of the film.
Having watched the Stage show its very clear that it struggles in a lot of the same points, villain weakness and slow first half etc.
The majority of this show is a number of songs introducing us to 1 cat at a time and then a final third bringing them all together.
I actually find it hard to believe that the stage show has lived up to the "classic" tag for so long.
Golden Review Rating - 4 / 10
Its a shame this failed so badly as there is some great moments in this which deserved better.
There is a growing "Cult' following for this so give it a go, it might be your thing.
#catsmovie #cats #memories #Jenniferhudson #taylorswift