The trick to enjoying Cats is to suspend any preconceived judgement that might be lurking deep within your soul.
That’s not exactly the type of caveat that should be put on a movie that relies on performers transforming into felines to sing about being magical ‘Jellicle Cats’, as there’s nothing about this premise that even hints at logic, yet here we are.
After seeing the initial trailer for Cats, many people recoiled at the sight of the all-star cast kitted out in their cat wear (thanks to the use of new fur-technology) and dancing to Broadway hits, but the finished product from director Tom Hooper completely lands on its feet.
Cats is mesmerising, magical and most of all just completely wickedly weird and absurd, so pretty much just everything fans of the musical would expect it to be.
Just like the successful stage show the movie is based on Cats tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles. The audience is brought into their London-based world on the night they are preparing to witness the “Jellicle Choice”, where it is decided which cat deserves to ascend to a place called the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new and improved life.
In Cats, a young cat named Victoria (Francesca Hayward) is roughly tied up in a sack and thrown away to make her own way on the streets of London where she lands in a labyrinth of winding backstreets, empty restaurants and shadowy houses frequented by the Jellicles.
It is here that she meets the calm and commanding Munkustrap (Robbie Fairchild), a magician in training cat named Mr Mistoffelees (Laurie Davidson), a gummy housecat by the name of Jennyanydots (Rebel Wilson) and the cat who will make the Jellicle Choice, Old Deuteronomy (Judi Dench).
Top Comments
Yes! This review is spot on! People who don't know the original musical are just jumping on the social media hate bandwagon. Creating a movie adaptation of Cats was still a very risky move in my opinion because most people under 25 do not know the original musical. I had to watch a bunch of YouTube videos in order to catch up. My only issue with the movie was that Rum Tum Tugger lacked the same energy of the original musical, but other than that, Tom Hooper pretty much nailed the spirit of Cats.
I can’t wait to see Cats! I saw the stage show in the (very) late 80’s and listened to the soundtrack endlessly. My daughter has a DVD of the show and loves it too. Hopefully the rest of the cinema won’t mind us singing along 😂