CATS (Film Review)

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Image result for cats film poster 2019
Picture from IMDB

 Star Rating: ✩✩

Andrew Lloyd Webber's award winning musical, CATS, based on the poems by T.S. Elliot hits the big screen this Christmas. It may have been spectacular on stage, but on screen it was a CATastrophe! 

This im-purrrfection is mainly down to the flow of the film, as it felt disjointed and as an audience member I felt disconnected from the story and characters. From what I gathered, the plot revolves around a community of Jellicle cats wanting to perform at the annual ball, to see if they are chosen for a fresh start at life, "Are you going to try for a different life?" says Victoria. There are many A-list stars that are relevant to all generations in this film, such as James Cordon (Bustopher), Taylor Swift (Bombalurina), Idris Elba (Macavity), Rebel Wilson (Jennyanydots) and more. You could tell that they were stars but they didn't inhabit the characters. For example, in one scene it felt like watching one of Taylor Swift's concerts and not a CATS performance, maybe director Tom Hooper intended for this to happen? However, Judy Dench (Old Deuteronomy) and Ian Mckellen (Gus the Theatre Cat) stole the show through their impeccable acting. As this is a musical, the theatrical performances from Francesca Hayward (Victoria), Robbie Fairchild (Munkastrap) and Steven McRae (Skimbleshanks) stood out for me through their dancing, singing and acting. Some of the dancing was poorly choreographed, but the tap-dancing scene led by Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat was impressive.

The visual effects and set design team have to be awarded the most for this film, as the CGI and detail used was immensely impressive. There was a slight hiccup with some of the footwork, but the movements and facial expressions really captured the creepiness of the CATS that you see on stage.


Overall, this film needs many improvements, but the visuals and some of the performances were proven successful to my eyes, with Jennifer Hudson's (Grizabella) singing of Memory a standout. This was such a pivotal moment, it was just a shame that my memorable experience of this scene was interrupted by someone answering their phone - LOUDLY! Mind you, by some of the negative statements made by audience members of this film, they probably would not have cared. However, a lady walked passed me on the way out saying that she appreciated the theatrical elements and now wants to see a musical theatre performance on stage, so I guess it did something right!

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