Cats: My Two Cents

Hello! I’m back after a long absence, and excited to post again. I hope you enjoy today’s content, which is my own take on the controversial Cats movie.

The reviewing of Cats is a difficult matter. I had read the scathing reviews, and when I went in the theater I expected something so awful that I would have to cover my eyes, and it’s true that a cat being violently thrown in a bag on a rainy London street isn’t very promising, but what followed was in parts good and in others horrifying. Let’s begin. After Francesca Hayward, as the white cat, Victoria, was serenaded by the other cats with the opening, a clever plot device since the song is essentially phrased as a question. However, the plot of Victoria as the outsider would grow to usurp the device of Grizabella, a questionable choice by the director. The camera angles throughout the whole number and movie were odd like someone with the camera was jumping all over the set. Later, during “Rum Tum Tugger,” one particularly horrifying shot came when Jason Derulo seemed to press his nose literally onto the screen of the camera. The choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler that seemed so clever on stage in 2016 got lost for the big screen. The next number was “Jennyanydots,” but first we met Idris Elba as Macavity, who became the villain of this film and would kidnap the cats and transport them to a barge on the Thames. Two other people we meet are Robbie Fairchild as Munkustrap (overused (he narrated almost every song) but also very talented) and Laurie Davidson as Mr. Mistoffeles. Then, we zero in on Rebel Wilson’s jennyanydots, who then sings a song that loses its comic effect as a result of her trying too hard with the slapstick comedy, as well as the grotesque mini-cockroaches and mice that have human faces. This brings me to the CGI. Despite the shocking effect of the trailer, the eye gets used to this at about 15 minutes in. Next, we meet Jason Derulo’s Rum Tum Tugger, a shockingly bland and boring one, that even makes you wonder why the cats even look up to him enough to make him a serious contender to be the Jellicle Choice. After Macavity has kidnapped Jenny (noticeably the Rum Tum Tugger is safe from his motives, maybe because he’s smart enough to know the Tugger doesn’t have a good shot at getting the prize), in a clever device where she is waiting outside alone, jealous of Bustopher Jones, who everyone is currently following through the junkyard. We see the odd cinematic effect then of everyone who he kidnaps as well as he dissipating into little bits when they leave. After James Corden’s rollicking turn as Bustopher Jones (exactly the pick-up the movie needs), he too falls prey to Macavity. After this number comes one of the most misguided in the film, “Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer.” They choose to speak-sing this number and, inexplicably, add Victoria as if the cats were showing off for her. It was as if Victoria served as a largely participatory audience for all the cats to perform to. The lack of chemistry between these two cats was also startling in this number, and they both seemed to be performing in separate movies. Old Deuteronomy, an adequate Judi Dench, then enters, after which a preprise of “Memory” is sung by the rejected Grizabella on the street, with Hudson’s voice never reaching the depth you’d expect. For that you must wait until later in the film. A low point comes next when Francesca Hayward sings “Beautiful Ghosts,” the new creation by Taylor Swift and Andrew Lloyd Webber, the former who has yet to put in an appearance. The song lacks the beauty of “Memory” and the energy of the other songs, and feels out of place in this movie, yet another element that separates it from the stage play. This is another theme I feel I should address. Cats is not the stage play, and suffers from it. It inherently loses some of its magic on screen, because it seems as if movie editing takes out the magic, since they can make anything look real. Once we’re taken inside the abandoned theater where the competition is held, the indisputable highlight of the film happens. It comes in the form of Ian McKellen as Gus, the Theater Cat, who offers a touching and heartfelt portrait of a cat actor past his prime, but echos McKellen’s experience as a veteran of the theater eerily. An odd distraction is Mistoffelees’ backstage assisting of Gus by adding special effects to his performance, which in my opinion seems a bit like cheating. Also, you may ask, wouldn’t Mistoffelees want to save the magic for himself? Well, in this version, Mistoffelees is not competing, but don’t worry, he still gets his number. Next, Steven McRae as Skimbleshanks gets his own underwhelming turn, but not before McKellen falls prey to Elba’s deception and is transported to the barge locked up along with Corden and Wilson, along with the person who possibly gets the ugliest CGI in the movie, Ray Winstone as Griddlebone. McRae, supposedly performing for Old Deuteronomy, gets transported to many different sets, bringing up the logistical query of how Dench could observe all these places at once. McRae does deceptively complicated tapping, that still elicits oohs and aahs from the audience. Also, the fact of him actually being on the train means it loses some of the magic of the “let’s put on a show!” attitude that comes from the cats piecing together a train themselves. After Macavity kidnaps Skimbleshanks too, he comes and demands that Old Deuteronomy choose him, as he is the only eligible cat left (Mungojerrie, Rumpleteaser, and the Rum Tum Tugger come to mind as exceptions to this). Before this, however, Taylor Swift, making her brief but highly publicized, appearance in the film, seductively sings “Macavity” with an air of knowingness that works with the song. Though it’s not as good as many reviews touted it as being (I think this is because it loses it’s scariness and bone-tingling effect when you’re not worried about Macavity popping up from the back of the theater and killing you) it is still a great song and gives a dying burst of energy to the film. Luckily, Deuteronomy honorably refuses Macavity’s odious offer, so the Tugger ensures that she too joins the crew on the barge, at which point Mistoffelees, encouraged by Victoria to bring her back, tries (backed up by, finally, the chorus singing “Magical Mr. Mistoffelees”) at first in vain but then successfully, so she is back to hear Hudson’s pitiful plea “Memory”. And while it’s true that Hudson is overacting here, she absolutely slaughters “Memory,” even if the shaky head voice she uses to begin the song doesn’t give you confidence. I didn’t think she was going to be able to hit the notes, and especially not belt them, and she does strain but she is successful. Then Hudson ascends to the Heaviside Layer, with a subplot of Macavity attempting to hold on to the bottom of the balloon, but Grizabella seems to drop the balloon so he falls off, then offers what seems to be a triumphant wave to the beaten Macavity sitting on a London rooftop. Then the music plays, the credits roll, and the movie’s over. Or so you would hope. In fact, the magic of the ending is undermined by Judi Dench sitting on a statue and addressing a group of cats with the banal and over-long “The Addressing of Cats” (no pun intended). Then, finally, after Dench whispers in Hayward’s ear that she is finally a Jellicle cat, which is again a plot moment that undermines Grizabella’s moment and leads the audience to believe that that in fact was the main storyline, but we get our satisfying ending, as together they look up into the sky to see Grizabella fading into the horizon. The elegant and vibrant spectacle of this movie are overshadowed by average performances and the overall craziness of the movie and abrupt changes to the plot line. I would recommend that you see it, just because everyone should have their own opinion on this movie.