Cats Movie Review
‘Cat’astrophe!
Based on the poetry collection, Old Possum’s Book of Patriarchal Cats by T.S. Eliot, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats is one of the longest-running Broadway productions of all time. The fantasy musical enjoys worldwide acclaim and this is the film time someone has tried to venture into making it a full-length feature film. Directed by Tom Hooper, Cats was one of the most awaited films of the year because of the legacy and for having the who’s who of British acting talent as well as Hollywood biggies at its disposal. Starring Dame Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift and many more eminent actors, one could not help but have humungous expectations from the film. Unfortunately, the screen version does not live up to the legacy of the stage musical and fails to impress.
Setting the shady and dark tone of the film from the first shot itself, the film starts with the abandonment of a cat, Veronica (British ballet sensation Francesca Hayward). She then meets up an alley clowder that calls itself the Jellicle tribe. Mr Mistoffelees (Laurie Davidson) a magician cat falls in love with Veronica at first sight. She then finds out about the annual Jellicle Ball where the matriarch of the tribe, Old Deuteronomy (Dame Judi Dench) picks one cat to start a new life on the other side of the Heaviside River, which signifies cat heaven.
But all is not happy in this feline world. We are then introduced to Grizabella (Jennifer Hudson), an ostracized member of the Jellicle tribe. She was enticed by the biggest enemy of the clowder, Macavity (Idris Elba) and was later abandoned by both sides. Once a glamorous cat, Grizabelle’s life is a tragedy at present. There is a musical sequence between Veronica and Grizabelle, singing about their stories of abandonment. This is the only time you see the film hinting at what is the actual subliminal message of the story.
The annual ball begins and we meet the competitors one by one. Gus (Ian McKellen) the theatre cat, Jennyanydots (Rebel Wilson) a toddy cat, Rum Tum Tugger (Jason Derulo) a tomcat and many more sing of their lives and why they deserve a new one on the other side of the river. The final contestant of the ball is Macavity, whose act is preceded by a femme fatale feline, Bombalurina (Taylor Swift) and watching Swift shake a leg with Elba has to be one of the high points of the film for the audience. We’ve seen Elba do serious roles and action for years now that watching him groove in a musical settling will be true cinematic delight for his fans. Macavity then abducts Old Deuteronomy when she rejects his demand for the new life and is about drown her in the river. This is when the magical Mr Mistoffelees, after several failed attempts, rescues her with a spell.
Finally, Grizabelle sneaks a chance to enter the Jellicle ball as a contestant and Hudson performing the famous song Memory lends a lump down your throat. Old Deuteronomy picks Grizabelle for the new life and sends her off in a hot air balloon across the river.
While the story doesn’t change from the original poem to the Broadway adaptation to this feature, Cats as a film fails to get the essence of the abandonment issues right in the story. There are glimpses of it in several sequences, but before the feeling sinks in, you’re catnipped into a different feeling. Not capturing the correct tone of the story, it oscillates between two different moods too often and that leaves the audience unhinged. While the actors have done a fairly good job, the CGI is not very convincing. Sometimes the cats are too humane with human hands and noses and sometimes they just look too real. One more thing that bothers you is the size in perspective. While these cats look seven feet tall in some shots, they seem only centimetre tall in other when put in long shots. Brilliant music, well-choreographed songs and good production value couldn’t save this one from sinking. Cats is surely a film we wanted but this version doesn’t make us purr in pleasure…
