Cats (C+ or 2.5/4 stars)
As soon as the 1st trailer for Tom Hooper's movie musical 'Cats' dropped a couple of months ago ... the claws were out to tear it to shreds {no pun intended}. Why? Well, because it looked insane, haha. Based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's longgg-running musical (which, in turn, was loosely based on T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats), I went into 'Cats' with much trepidation for a host of reasons. My thoughts later. The - ahem - "story" takes place all in one night in London as a tribe of anthropomorphic, hybrid human/feline cats called the Jellicles gather for a ball & competition {of sorts}. Once per year they get together where one such cat is chosen to ascend to the Heaviside Layer {um, Heaven? I guess?} & return with a new life.
New to all of this is sweet outsider cat, Victoria (Francesca Hayward), who is abandoned & dismissively dumped among the Jellicles, with one of them, Munkustrap (Robbie Fairchild), taking it upon himself to introduce her to the rest. There's lazy housecat, Jennyanydots (Rebel Wilson), who has taught humanoid mice & cockroaches {yes, you read that correctly} to perform, while fat cat, Bustopher Jones (James Corden), raids the local trash cans for food. Rum Tum Tugger (Jason Derulo) is the most flamboyant of the felines. There's magician cat, Mr. Mistoffelees (Laurie Davidson). Rumpleteazer & Mungojerrie are cat burglars. Gus The Theatre Cat (Ian McKellen) runs, well, the local theater. It is there that the old & wise Jellicle leader, Old Deuteronomy (Judi Dench), will select the cat to make the ascension to a new life. Open-minded Victoria thinks it should be the once glamorous but now rejected, downtrodden outcast, Grizabella (Jennifer Hudson), who fell out of favor with the rest for aligning with malicious criminal cat, Macavity (Idris Elba). He's hell bent on winning the competition and, with the aid of Bombalurina (Taylor Swift) & snarling barge cat, Growltiger (Ray Winstone), he starts cat-napping the various competitors to ensure he's the sole choice left.
I jumped down this Alice in Wonderland-like rabbit hole of a movie and, well, I didn't hate it. I sat in awe of the mess that it was ... but I didn't hate it. The first 20 minutes are quite unsettling & jarring. And I did not care for most of the character introductory song sequences. We're thrown right into the shallow "plot" & character intros so hastily; so haphazardly; and the way everything looks at the onset further confused matters. I have to say, though, that once Judi Dench - looking like a drunk Cowardly Lioness - makes her grand entrance and the story enters The Egyptian theatre ... things settled down for me and I was able to appreciate various songs, dances (VERY well choreographed) & character moments.
So yeah, awful opening, decent middle, and a horrible ending with a seemingly never-ending, anti-climactic, direct-to-camera monologue by Dench about how cats are ... not dogs. Folks, this is technically a baaad film. And yet, something prevented me from loathing it. Francesca Hayward is a lovely find with a sweet mercurial presence. Too bad she is lost adrift in a sea of bad CGI, nutty editing choices & odd body scale transitions from shot to shot {one moment she & her physical features are one size, and the next shot, one of her limbs could be double the size}. Most of the lesser-known cast members do a good job. Jennifer Hudson sings the popular "Memory" very well; just thought she over-emoted, a bit. Rebel Wilson is hit-&-miss for me and, to say that her Jennyanydots is annoying is an understatement. Furthermore, her big number with humanoid mice & cockroaches is the stuff of nightmares.
I didn't love James Corden's Bustopher Jones, but at least I could understand the lyrics during his song. Side note on the songs: they're just so weird. Little makes sense. For instance, what the hell is a "Jellicle"!? The whole story and its particulars are just inherently bizarre. Sadly, Ian McKellen, love him dearly, was a big miss for me. I could barely understand anything he was mumbling & croaking out during his big song and, he seemed to be in an altogether different movie. Idris Elba disappears into a puff of smoke from time to time with nary an explanation for it. Taylor Swift is barely in the film, but suitably fun & seductive. And I liked her & Lloyd Webber's haunting original song "Beautiful Ghosts", as sung by Francesca Hayward.
Any review of 'Cats' would be incomplete without discussing the titular characters' body design. In order to transform the actors into human/cat hybrids, cat suits were combined with state-of-the-art CGI. Unfortunately, the result is beyond awkward; like a lab experiment gone awry. There's something off-putting about seeing human features manipulated onto moving CGI cat bodies ... but with human hands & feet to boot! Heck, some cats are inexplicably wearing sneakers. To this, NOTHING about the way these 'cats' move is natural, even if there is something enticingly sexual about the way they undulate during their dance sequences.
So 'some' songs worked for me, like "Memory", "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats", & "Mr. Mistoffelees" {very cool scene near the end}. Tech-wise, the production design is stellar {old-world feel, dimly lit, rustic vibe to it all; with enormous sets that were built to dwarf the human characters to cat size}. And some of the dance sequences are fantastic. That said, the camera seemed at a loss as to whether it should focus on a wide shot or a close-up; adding to the dizzying, disorienting feeling of what the heck you're looking at. The bottom line is: while I kinda, sorta, barely enjoyed 'Cats' as a "this is so bad, it's good" joke, I mostly sat there for the 110 minutes just thinking that this movie in this CGI/photo-realistic visual medium probably should never have been attempted. What worked onstage since 1981 for millions of adoring fans doesn't necessarily translate to the big screen. IF you can get past the wackadoodle visuals, all that's left is sitting back to watch strange looking cat 'performers' singing, gyrating & dancing to a hit-&-miss parade of Andrew Lloyd Webber's songs. Take of that what you will.
New to all of this is sweet outsider cat, Victoria (Francesca Hayward), who is abandoned & dismissively dumped among the Jellicles, with one of them, Munkustrap (Robbie Fairchild), taking it upon himself to introduce her to the rest. There's lazy housecat, Jennyanydots (Rebel Wilson), who has taught humanoid mice & cockroaches {yes, you read that correctly} to perform, while fat cat, Bustopher Jones (James Corden), raids the local trash cans for food. Rum Tum Tugger (Jason Derulo) is the most flamboyant of the felines. There's magician cat, Mr. Mistoffelees (Laurie Davidson). Rumpleteazer & Mungojerrie are cat burglars. Gus The Theatre Cat (Ian McKellen) runs, well, the local theater. It is there that the old & wise Jellicle leader, Old Deuteronomy (Judi Dench), will select the cat to make the ascension to a new life. Open-minded Victoria thinks it should be the once glamorous but now rejected, downtrodden outcast, Grizabella (Jennifer Hudson), who fell out of favor with the rest for aligning with malicious criminal cat, Macavity (Idris Elba). He's hell bent on winning the competition and, with the aid of Bombalurina (Taylor Swift) & snarling barge cat, Growltiger (Ray Winstone), he starts cat-napping the various competitors to ensure he's the sole choice left.
I jumped down this Alice in Wonderland-like rabbit hole of a movie and, well, I didn't hate it. I sat in awe of the mess that it was ... but I didn't hate it. The first 20 minutes are quite unsettling & jarring. And I did not care for most of the character introductory song sequences. We're thrown right into the shallow "plot" & character intros so hastily; so haphazardly; and the way everything looks at the onset further confused matters. I have to say, though, that once Judi Dench - looking like a drunk Cowardly Lioness - makes her grand entrance and the story enters The Egyptian theatre ... things settled down for me and I was able to appreciate various songs, dances (VERY well choreographed) & character moments.
So yeah, awful opening, decent middle, and a horrible ending with a seemingly never-ending, anti-climactic, direct-to-camera monologue by Dench about how cats are ... not dogs. Folks, this is technically a baaad film. And yet, something prevented me from loathing it. Francesca Hayward is a lovely find with a sweet mercurial presence. Too bad she is lost adrift in a sea of bad CGI, nutty editing choices & odd body scale transitions from shot to shot {one moment she & her physical features are one size, and the next shot, one of her limbs could be double the size}. Most of the lesser-known cast members do a good job. Jennifer Hudson sings the popular "Memory" very well; just thought she over-emoted, a bit. Rebel Wilson is hit-&-miss for me and, to say that her Jennyanydots is annoying is an understatement. Furthermore, her big number with humanoid mice & cockroaches is the stuff of nightmares.
I didn't love James Corden's Bustopher Jones, but at least I could understand the lyrics during his song. Side note on the songs: they're just so weird. Little makes sense. For instance, what the hell is a "Jellicle"!? The whole story and its particulars are just inherently bizarre. Sadly, Ian McKellen, love him dearly, was a big miss for me. I could barely understand anything he was mumbling & croaking out during his big song and, he seemed to be in an altogether different movie. Idris Elba disappears into a puff of smoke from time to time with nary an explanation for it. Taylor Swift is barely in the film, but suitably fun & seductive. And I liked her & Lloyd Webber's haunting original song "Beautiful Ghosts", as sung by Francesca Hayward.
Any review of 'Cats' would be incomplete without discussing the titular characters' body design. In order to transform the actors into human/cat hybrids, cat suits were combined with state-of-the-art CGI. Unfortunately, the result is beyond awkward; like a lab experiment gone awry. There's something off-putting about seeing human features manipulated onto moving CGI cat bodies ... but with human hands & feet to boot! Heck, some cats are inexplicably wearing sneakers. To this, NOTHING about the way these 'cats' move is natural, even if there is something enticingly sexual about the way they undulate during their dance sequences.
So 'some' songs worked for me, like "Memory", "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats", & "Mr. Mistoffelees" {very cool scene near the end}. Tech-wise, the production design is stellar {old-world feel, dimly lit, rustic vibe to it all; with enormous sets that were built to dwarf the human characters to cat size}. And some of the dance sequences are fantastic. That said, the camera seemed at a loss as to whether it should focus on a wide shot or a close-up; adding to the dizzying, disorienting feeling of what the heck you're looking at. The bottom line is: while I kinda, sorta, barely enjoyed 'Cats' as a "this is so bad, it's good" joke, I mostly sat there for the 110 minutes just thinking that this movie in this CGI/photo-realistic visual medium probably should never have been attempted. What worked onstage since 1981 for millions of adoring fans doesn't necessarily translate to the big screen. IF you can get past the wackadoodle visuals, all that's left is sitting back to watch strange looking cat 'performers' singing, gyrating & dancing to a hit-&-miss parade of Andrew Lloyd Webber's songs. Take of that what you will.