Cats is a 2019 musical about a group of cats that call themselves the Jellicles who ultimately have to make the decision of sending a cat up in the sky all the way to the Heaviside layer.
It stars an ensemble cast of insanely talented people like James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson, and newcomer Francesca Hayward. It’s hard to summarize Cats, because there is no premise whatsoever. The basic gist is that a group of cats that call themselves the Jellicles, ultimately have to make the decision of sending a cat up in the sky all the way to the Heaviside layer. Does that sound convoluted and idiotic? Absolutely. Just to hear that storyline makes you nearly roll your eyes right out of your head.
The main problem with Cats is that it’s all over the place. When it starts, you immediately ask yourself where it’s going. It’s tonally inconsistent, and it completely lacks focus throughout. The movie only has a runtime of 110 minutes, but it somehow feels a lot longer than that. When it goes from one character to another, it loses its narrative flow from the get-go. As mentioned in this review, since there’s no intriguing premise that holds this film together, it slowly starts to deconstruct itself. You’re not supposed to take it so seriously, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still uninteresting. When the first act kicks off, you start checking your watch and soon begging for it to end.
The cast does fine with what they’re given, but no one stands out in terms of acting. Whenever you see them as cats, it’s quite unsettling. You can see what the filmmakers have been trying to do with the CGI, however the uncanny valley will start giving you nightmares the moment you leave the theater. Because the film has an inconsistent tone, all their acting styles make them look like they’re not in the same movie at all. Some of them try to be dark and creepy, while some of them act like whimsical and exaggerated caricatures. Regarding the musical numbers, all of them, except Taylor Swift’s memorable solo, are pretty bland. They would have been much better on stage than the big screen, because you would feel a lot more connected to the music and choreography. Sadly, the film wastes these actors’ talent.
Bottom line is that Cats should have never been conceived as a feature-length adaptation. Even if it has a director who has clearly shown his admiration for stage musicals, it is unfortunately both Hooper’s worst movie in his career and one of the worst movies of 2019. Cats truly is a catastrophe.