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CAST
FRANCESCA HAYWARD
JIAH BETOTE
DANNY COLLINS
JAMES CORDEN
LAURIE DAVIDSON
JUDI DENCH
JASON DERULO
IDRIS ELBA
ROBBIE FAIRCHILD
JENNIFER HUDSON
STEVEN McRAE
NAOIMH MORGAN
DANIELA NORMAN
FREYA ROWLEY
ZIZI STRALLEN
TAYLOR SWIFT
REBEL WILSON
BASED ON THE POETRY COLLECTION “OLD POSSUM’S BOOKS OF PRACTICAL CATS” BY
T.S. ELIOT
BASED ON THE MUSICAL BY
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER
SCREENPLAY BY
LEE HALL
TOM HOOPER
PRODUCED BY
TIM BEVAN
ERIC FELLNER
DEBRA HAYWARD
TOM HOOPER
DIRECTED BY
TOM HOOPER
GENRE
FANTASY
MUSICAL
RATED
AUS:G
UK:U
USA:PG
RUNNING TIME
110 MIN
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Film adaptation of the megamusical Cats exposes its truly odd nature, with its sing-through musical style, coupled with Tom Hooper’s at times disorienting direction, resulting in a baffling, visually jarring movie experience.
I never really understood the concept of a “trigger word”, but after watching Cats it has become all too apparent. The word in question is “jellicle”. It is said (or sung, rather) with such consistent annoyance from opening bar to baffling confusion, that the mere resemblance of it feels like nails on a chalkboard.
The same can be said for most of Cats, the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit megamusical. Directed by Tom Hooper (Les Miserables), Cats is an uncomfortable, annoying mess of a movie musical, a catnip loaded glitter bomb that is hard to wash off after the film ends. Those who love the musical (or camp entertainment in general) might get a kick out of it. For the rest of us, there is little redeeming value to be found, and plenty of nightmare fuel in this strange trip of a movie.
The films plot (or the closest resemblance to it) centres on Victoria (Frances Hayward), an abandoned cat who falls in with the Jellicle’s, a group of cats who must decide who in their litter will be chosen to ascend to the “Heaviside layer” and attain a new life.
Set during the one night, Cats jumps from one song to the next, with these Andrew Lloyd Webber penned compositions hard to follow lyrically, which is a major problem for a movie experience that is bewildering enough. Hooper’s decision not to employ more moments of spoken dialogue is a baffling one. Nothing in Cats makes sense. Motivations are underwritten or don’t exist at all, as we are introduced to one character after another, who even after their respective song and dance, still feel like strange creatures from a strange land.
Performances wise, there is little of value to be found here. Lead actor Jessica Haywood is stuck in a permanent daze, as if she awoken from a drugged out stupor; Rebel Wilson’s shtick is just as annoyingly tiresome in stop-motion form; whatever tough guy cred Idris Elba has stockpiled has eroded in a turn worthy of a Joel Schumacher Batman movie; and elder statesmen Judi Dench and Ian McKellan are both woefully miscast in their inability to carry a tune. Even Jennifer Hudson, who belts out the popular song “Memories”, comes off as insincere with her snot leaking overacting.
Much like the rest of the film, the world building in Cats is a confusing mesh of real-world and fantastical interplay, in which the rules of scale and gravity do not apply. It all results in a befuddling cinematic experience. The goal of such fantastical cinema is to transport the viewer to world never seen before, yet Cats continuously keeps its viewers at arm’s length to witness, rather than be a part of, the maddening spectacle.
There is some craftmanship to be found in Cats, but in Hooper’s hands, the results are wretched. News that Hopper finished editing hours before the films premiere deadline shows that when it came to the project, he either had no clue how to tackle the material, or was in over his head. No wonder then that Cats is a dud.
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