Cats: A Challenging Watch
Directed by Tom Hooper
“But the memories were lost long ago. So I’ll dance with these beautiful ghosts.”
Victoria
Cats is a live-action musical film released in 2019 based on the widely successful musical “Cats” by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is directed by Tom Hooper with its screenplay written also by him and Lee Hall. It follows the story of a cat who is left in the alleyway by her owner where she encounters a bunch of stray cats known as the “Jellicle Cats.” These cats take her on a journey through the streets of London to introduce her to their world prior to the Jellicle Ball where one of them will be chosen – by a wise cat named Old Deuteronomy – to go to the Heaviside Layer and given a new life.
There seems to be no direct plot unless you sift through the barrage of songs thrown in every three minutes. I expect singing from a musical but for the life of me, at least make the songs catchy and understandable. I am certain that an inkling of a plot is formed 50 minutes into the film, only to be abandoned, and regained again toward the final act. Though, it is said that the original “Cats” musical never made quite as much sense anyway. The premise was based on a collection of poetry from 1939 specifically “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” by T. S. Eliot. Despite this, it had translated much better as a Broadway musical if its commercial success is anything to go by.
Heading into visual aesthetics, the CGI is dastardly and noticeably challenged in many of the scenes. The look of the film itself struggled with dynamism as most of the set felt flat, empty and muted. With nothing but CGI cats dancing through the streets of London, it all felt so dull. There seemed to be minimal direction as the cats pranced their way through to the next scene until finally, we reached a finale. However, the climax is not so appeasing and includes an uncanny breaking of the fourth wall by the wisest cat of the crew – good old Deuts. By the end, I wonder who the target audience is for this.
Cats possessed a star-studded cast with names like Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, and Taylor Swift – and I know this because their faces are clearly visibly generated onto human-like cat bodies. Our protagonist Victoria is portrayed by Francesca Hayward a wonderfully talented ballerina whose first feature film ended up being one of the worst musicals of all time. Jason Derulo even finds his way in this production as the Rum Tum Tugger. Though, I would say that his contribution wasn’t nearly as bad as one would have expected. Such great talent squandered on a project like this. Same to be said with Idris Elba and Jennifer Hudson.
Cats is a testament to everything you should not do when making a film. I have a sneaky suspicion that despite this, Cats may eventually develop into a cult classic as the years progress. Its reception seems like the negativity toward the live-action Cat in the Hat (2003) upon its release, which is now considered a cult classic. Maybe it’s the curse of those human-like cats that invokes feelings of disdain. Or perhaps, we, the public cannot appreciate campy, abstract musicals.
The Island Cinephile 
