Cats

A tribe of cats must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life.

Cats is arguably one of the most anticipated films of the year, and with a great line up consisting of some great stars such as James Corden, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Taylor Swift and Jason Derulo can you really blame the hype? What's interesting though is how the film is taken from being a popular musical, and now becoming a film - some other musicals and stories have achieved this before, but with a variety of conflicts between the two genres, it can often be difficult to get the right mixture of musical and film. Arguably one of the most talked-about things for this film though is its creepy character models who have been edited to look and move like cats - sure this feels really weird and kind of made me uneasy at the start but rest assured as the film progresses this settles in well and doesn't feel strange at the end. I was a bit sceptical about this film, especially seeing the very poor publicity that this film received from popular film websites such as IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes - and to be honest, I can see why there is controversy there, but whether I agree with these points or not is what you are here to find out. Onto the main question, does this film land on all 4 paws, or does it actually end up as a cat-astrophe? Here are my thoughts.

I'll start with what I liked about the film and the good parts. Like I said earlier, I really wasn't sure what to expect with this film, so when it began with a group of cats clawing at a bag I was quite confused, but I actually really liked the starting sequence, not only does the scenery really nicely help to introduce us to the dark and dimly lit streets of London but the lights and colours of the streets also really 'pop' which makes it really stand out clearly for us - all whilst the accompanying audio track provides a good and fast-paced introduction to the film, whilst adding in that little bit of mystery which I thought was effective. We're introduced to the main character fairly well too, seeing Victoria in a confused state as to her new surroundings helps to personify and match the feelings that we have so that throughout the remainder of the film, it doesn't just feel like the character is learning and creating relationships, but that element of the film helps to make us feel like we are too - which gets us engaged and helps to keep the film feeling fresh. I understand that this is a musical, and typically musicals aren't really my kind of thing, but here I really enjoyed the musical scenes, not only did they feel really well put together in terms of choreography, but the whole scenery and ecosystem of the cats world came together, to make all of the musical scenes not only feel really catchy but also really exciting and enjoyable too. Seeing songs playing whilst characters do certain tasks and perform certain roles is exciting, and helps to keep the film flowing well from music to acting, as well as just helping to keep these scenes feeling exciting, seeing Jason Derulo singing and dancing whilst in the milk bar not only feels fast-paced, but the constant movement around following the characters keeps the film always moving, and always doing something. These scenes feel really unique too, I can't remember seeing a series of scenes that are executed in a way like this (a good thing!), I really like the way in which the film combines the music and the characters, because it keeps the film flowing super well, and always means that something exciting and enjoyable is happening. And like I said before, there are some quality songs in this film, not only are they exciting but they're also super catchy, and for sure will stay in your head long after finishing, fans of the show will recognise the songs, but seeing them performed ina. different context is really refreshing and some of the voices and performances whilst singing here are amazing and really breathtaking. I loved the changes to the script from the show to really connect the cats. Adding to the Macavity story and making him more present in the story. Victoria's journey with Munkustrap as we meet all the Jellicles. To add to that, the music is amazing - not only do the songs feel really good but they’re also just genuinely really good remakes with some absolutely amazing voices, which makes it a great film from that perspective. Robert Fairchild has an absolutely amazing voice, and really makes songs like ‘Old Deuteronomy’ and ‘Jellicle Cats’ really stand out as some series tunes from this song, surprisingly Judi Dench’s part’s are great too

What's more, is that the characters and actors are great here, the addition of a villainous character in Macavity creates a nice balance between the good and bad characters of the film, and really helps to create a series of groups within the Jellicle group - again helping to solidify the characters and ecosystem of the film. The story of Victoria also helps to add a feeling of progression and development to the film and its characters too, it is a film where we follow and learn about the Jellicle through Victoria's eyes, and as she progresses and builds relationships, the film shows us more and more and then delves into key relationships in the group which actually makes them feel much more real, due to the varying relationships and characteristics that they all have. The best bit about this film for sure though is the acting, especially during the songs. Jennifer Hudson, whilst not the main character here, absolutely puts her heart and soul into the performance, as they all do, with scenes like the performance at the end which honestly left me with goosebumps, the amount of emotion and determination that these characters/actors show is amazing, and really shows the passion behind them all - it sounds weird but it genuinely feels like they merged into their cat characters really well, seeing how characters moved mysteriously, to hissing at each other, and then absolutely singing their hearts out was great, and even though some parts were better than others, my favourite element about the film is definitely the actors behind the characters. It is top-quality acting, and to be honest, that's the biggest shame about the film because it genuinely feels like they were let down by the creators of the film.

I'll explain why, in short, the plot and storyline of this film are awesome for a play/show, but the film adaptation is awful. I completely get how it is a musical, but this film simply has no real plot to grip onto, there isn't a clear story which allows us to track where we are in the film, and how its characters relate to that time point, for a show this is fine, but it just doesn't work as a film. The way in which the film instantly starts off by breaking into a 5+ minute song about the Jellicles is exciting but goes on way too long because it just doesn't establish who the characters are, or what they are doing, it really feels like the show was put into a film, with no consideration as to the differences between film and theatre. Even if there was a prior bit of dialogue before this initial song between characters, but there isn't, it basically jumps straight into a lengthy song, which really isn't a good start to a film, regardless of whether it is a musical based film or not - because the start of a film is crucial to grab the attention of the viewer and to get their interest, and by doing so this film really doesn't do that. I just want to touch upon this point again, because I want to emphasise its importance, yes 'Cats' is naturally a play, but as a film, this feels way too much like a play instead of a film with structure and something solid to grab on to, but there isn't, and it feels like the film doesn't really know what it wants to be. It also ruins what little story there is, by constantly going into song, basically the whole of the film is song and dance, characters finish a song and literally start a new one like 2 minutes later, which leaves hardly any room for a plot or for us to get to grips with what is going on, although sometimes these scenes do kinda keep us informed and up to date. I'll have to be honest, from a film enthusiasts perspective, I really couldn't get a grip on the film, and left me (for the first time ever) wondering whether I should walk out because it doesn't feel like there is a purpose to the film, there didn't feel like something would happen which I would miss, because there was no kind of story to follow. I didn't, thankfully because the last 10 minutes were great, it showed the structure and showed a lot of passion - but the rest of the film was lacking this heavily. Whilst I appreciate the ambition, production design and stunning cinematography, the cats themselves are the stuff of nightmares, haunting in fact. To see digital fur rendered on the likes of James Corden and Judi Dench, transforming them into giant creepy kitties is a jarring distraction to the point of sheer cringe-inducing embarrassment. Characters even had shoes on, I mean what kind of cat wears shoes?? Not only is there a lack of thought as to the type of showing this would be, in terms of a film format, but there is clear negligence to the creation of the characters which is super disappointing. Especially considering that the film had so many big names and stars in it, they put in great performances, but they all feel much overshadowed by the poor storyline and character models which is such a shame.

Overall, I would give this film a 5.5. It's a weird one because on one hand I really like the musical sequences and the songs from this film, they feel exciting, enjoyable and immersive - and to add to that the actors behind the characters put in a series of great and enthusiastic performances, with Jennifer Hudson providing an insane performance of memory at the end. But on the other hand, the film has little to no storyline, there are far too many songs for a film (for a show it would be perfect, but for a film, it is too much) and the characters don't just seem to have the impact that they do in the show which leaves them feeling redundant. If I'm honest, if you haven't seen the show then I wouldn't check this film out, for people who have seen the show there is a good chance that you will get the gist of the film, and that you will like the constant song theme, but the constant music addition and the lack of any real story should be more than enough to put a lot of people off. It is a shame, but I definitely think that it shows a clear divide between the theatre and film industries. Bottom line is though, if you’ve seen the musical, and you appreciate them then you will probably love this - it just feels like quite a niche audience for such a big film.

Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this review, I hope you have a lovely day! If you would like to check out my Official Facebook page where you can see sneak previous and more film insights then please consider checking out the link below!

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