Cats As A Film Is So Bad That It Demands To Be Seen To Be Believed

      With all the critical and box office smash hits of 2019, there also comes with them a fair share of misfires both critically and commercially. Examples are Hellboy, Men In Black: International, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker to a certain extent. In the case of Cats, the goal was always to make a faithful film adaptation of the classic Broadway hit that not only manages to become a commercial success but also strive for award season recognition. It came as a surprise to many when the film debuted to horrendous reviews with a critical score of just 20 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as debuting with an embarrassing IMDB score of 2.8 out of 10 . The films backlash was so embarrassing for the studio that the film was ultimately pulled from award season consideration this past December. The poor reception and box office underperformance of Cats may look devastating to fans of the Broadway show who were looking forward to it (It only grossed 6 million on it's opening weekend) but surprisingly, the overall film itself isn't a complete failure. While Cats cannot be classified as a good film nor anything close to being worthy of award season recognition due to the problems the film possesses in terms of storytelling, noticeably absent character development, and a visual appearance of the Cats that just looks plain ridiculous, it unintentionally holds entertainment value with the end result being a film that's terribly executed in the realm of acting, directing, and writing that's actually fun to watch because of how badly the film misfires. Like Joel Schumacher's critical misfire Batman and Robin, Cats fails at being a credible musical but it's undoing gives it pure entertainment value in being so terrible it's actually fun to watch.

      Based on the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, the story of Cats focuses on a group of street cats called Jellicles, who come together once a year to determine which of them will have the honor of ascending to the Heaviside Layer and thus return with a new life. It's not a question of whether Cats has a strong enough story to make the transformation from play to movie (It does), it's the overall creative approach to the film that makes it a misfire with audiences. Cats looks like a film that has all the right elements to make it a hit with the film possessing a striking visual flare to it along with an appealing cast and strong source material to draw from, making the fact that the film ultimately fails be a genuine surprise. The film carries with it a narrative that can become often confusing at times along with having an outlandish and sexual nature to it. The visual look of the cats is strange, making them come across as appearing to be a confused mixture of animal meets human that looks both laughable and unnatural. The directors decision to film the main actors in motion capture bodysuits along with providing CGI hair and cat features onto them, later proved to be a huge misfire as the overall look of the actors comes across as looking ridiculous. On a storytelling front, the film becomes rather confusing at times with the story occasionally stalling to allow for one musical number to happen in between what's supposed to be a well-drawn out plot, that just ends up feeling flat. The films synopsis goes something like this: The main cat in the story ends up getting tossed onto the streets with her ultimately being taken in by a band of stray cats immediately after. The strays of cats are shown to be competing in a competition, that comes across as feeling extremely vague and not well elaborated on where the winner gets to ascend to a higher realm. On the surface, there isn't much elaboration with the plot as it's not very well-developed and just feels like it's there to get the main character from one musical set piece to the next with the musical aspect of the film being the primary focus. On a visual scale, Cats holds appeal as the crews attempt to bring this colorful and usual world to life doesn't completely result in total failure. However on a storytelling and cat design note, the film completely misfires despite it's talented cast.

      As far as the films performances go, the cast is one of the few bright spots of the picture with them trying to make the best of both the material and direction given to them. Francesca Hayward gives her all playing the main character Victoria. She makes for an appealing lead female character despite not having much backstory to go off. In terms of casting however, she's the perfect choice for the role and does the best she can with the material she's given. The same can be said about Jennifer Hudson as Grizabella The Glamour Cat. She does a decent job of playing a lonely and decrepit cat, who seeks acceptance from the other Jellicle cats when she's initially ostracized. Hayward and Hudson hold their own and bring the most they can to their characters, making their moments ones that help to make the movie appear less messy. Idris Elba is completely wasted as Macavity The Mystery Cat. His character is not only underdeveloped which renders him as being a poorly effective antagonist in the story, but his overall look is silly. Other great stage actors who are ultimately wasted here are Judi Dench as old Deuteronomy, a wise and respected elderly cat who serves as the Jellicle patriarch. Despite a rough monologue she delivers in the films third act with her character reinforcing everything the audience learned about the Jellicles, she takes the role she's given and becomes one of the films few elements that actually works without coming across as embarrassing. The same can't be said about Sir Ian McKellen, who not only looks like he doesn't belong here but is essentially useless as Gus The Theatre Cat. His character is given little to do with McKellen not given enough room to breathe life into his character nor have a clear arc that audiences can get behind. While his addition to the cast is welcomed here, one must ask what's the point if he's not given enough material to work with. Besides being effective as a genuine surprise moment in the film, Taylor Swift demonstrates with the character of Bombalurina that she's much better off sticking to being a singer than an actress. Other noteworthy supporting roles are Jason Derulo as the curious cat Rum Tum Tugger, with Rebel Wilson shining as Jennyanydots (Her singing mice though come off as being just plain weird). Whereas the rest of the film collapses around the main cast, the ensemble for the most part does a notable job of trying to make the film work while showing enthusiasm for the roles their playing. Whether they knew or not how the end product would turn out, the cast as a whole looks as if they gave their all in terms of acting along with the moments where the scene calls for them to sing and dance.

      In regards to the films directing, Tom Hooper who previously helmed the 2012 musical adaptation Les Miserables takes the directors chair and creates a flashy yet bizarre spectacle, that ultimately goes off the rails both narratively and structurally. Besides the films performances, the look of the film works as it's other strong point with the city appearing to have a dark and misty feel to it thats effective. Whereas the films costume design is a hard miss with the poor CGI work on the cat costumes, the film contains striking set pieces which include traverse graveyards, milk clubs, and back alleys. The films score by Andrew Lloyd Webber helps to make up for the lack of power the films narrative is devoid of, making it deserve commending for its noble attempts to improve on the films shortcomings which also extends to its questionable pacing. The films opening song feels overlong and drawn out with the intro's dance number coming across as being both over-the-top and forced. The film does contain likable songs in the film which help to make the audience bear the experience with examples such as Mr. Mistoffelees, The Jellicle Ball, and Gus: The Theatre Cat. The problem lies that despite the songs being interesting, they're overlong and drawn out. While Hooper fails at transporting the musical onto the big screen in an matter that works as being a strong piece of filmmaking, he manages to set up the appropriate atmosphere with locations that feel like environments which cats would gravitate to. The films singing, dancing, and visual design serve as a weird counterbalance to the films uneven and confusing narrative.

      The films screenplay by Tom Hooper, T.S Elliot, and Lee Hall is where the film completely falls apart, prohibiting any chance the film had of being an effective musical translated to the big screen. The characters lack the proper development and growth to make the audience invested in the overall story. The films plot comes across as feeling rather bland with the audience not feeling captivated by the concept of a cat being chosen out of the group to go onto living a new life. There isn't much more to the films story other than it being a contest with no real backstory regarding what a Jellicle cat actually is. The film also doesn't tell audiences exactly why being a Jellicle cat is a bad thing and why they all just can't follow suit with the main cat, whose ultimately chosen for a new life. With the exception of Jennifer Hudson's character, the Jellicle cats never seem like they have it rough. The film goes to extreme lengths to drive home its concept that feels just rather plain. All of the main characters get moments to shine in terms of delivering musical numbers, but the script doesn't give them much backstory besides those moments. With the films script, the writers missed a real opportunity to take the musicals concept and transform it into a story that could've been fully realized as a reintroduction to a new generation of audiences.

      As an adaptation of the classic musical, Cats serves as a horrific misfire with it ultimately failing on what it originally sets out to do. Despite the film failing on that front, it manages to work as being a guilty pleasure. The film will be looked upon as being one that had all the right things going for it such as a capable director who had previous success within the musical genre, a talented cast who can act, sing, dance, and previously established material which should've made it extremely hard for the end product to turn out the way it did. One can't help but wonder why the filmmakers weren't as enthusiastic to work on this project as the main actors appeared to be. Besides some reasonably solid performances, strong art-set decoration, and music, the film as a whole collapses under its own weight though the audience can't help but laugh at the derailment of the train. Cats is unquestionably one of 2019's most shocking disappointments both critically and financially, but works great as a guilty pleasure. It's a shame that the filmmakers didn't believe in this story enough to give it the proper treatment it deserves cause this had potential to be great.

Final Verdict: Those looking for a great musical will be profoundly disappointed, those looking to become engulfed in the movies misfire will be thoroughly entertained and stunned by how badly Cats misses the mark.