'Cats' is A Strange, Yet Kind of, Somewhat Entertaining Film

By: Nikki Castaneda | December 20th, 2019

- Read Nikki's review or Cats. Cats stars James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and introduces Royal Ballet principal dancer Francesca Hayward in her feature film debut.

Featuring Lloyd Webber’s iconic music and a world-class cast of dancers under the guidance of Tony-winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, In the Heights), the film reimagines the musical for a new generation with spectacular production design, state-of-the-art technology, and dance styles ranging from classical ballet to contemporary, hip-hop to jazz, street dance to tap.

The film also stars Robbie Fairchild (Broadway’s An American in Paris), Laurie Davidson (TNT’s Will), hip-hop dance sensation Les Twins (Larry and Laurent Bourgeois), acclaimed dancer Mette Towley (featured in videos for Rihanna and Pharrell Williams’ N.E.R.D.), Royal Ballet principal dancer Steven McRae, and rising-star singer Bluey Robinson.

Universal Pictures presents a Working Title Films and Amblin Entertainment production, in association with Monumental Pictures and The Really Useful Group. Cats is produced by Debra Hayward, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Tom Hooper. The screenplay is by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot, Rocketman) and Hooper, based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and the stage musical by Lloyd Webber. Cats is executive produced by Lloyd Webber, Steven Spielberg, Angela Morrison and Jo Burn.

One of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, the stage musical “Cats” received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981, where it played for 21 years and earned the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. In 1983, the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and ran for an extraordinary 18 years. Since opening in London in 1981, “Cats” has continuously appeared on stage around the globe, to date having played to 81 million people in more than fifty countries and in nineteen languages. It is one of the most successful musicals of all time.

Cats is in theaters on December 20th, 2019.

‘Cats’ comes out this Christmas and not going to lie even though the trailers were a bit creepy for everyone, I was still excited for this movie. I am a huge musical fan. I love listening to musical soundtracks and have watched plenty of live musicals. When I was younger, I do remember their being a Cats musical. I had no idea what it was about other then people dressed up as Cats and singing. Going into this movie, I had no idea what it was going to be about. All I knew was that my favorite musical artist (Taylor Swift) was going to be in it and sing, so of course, along with me loving musicals, I had to go and support my girl.

This movie is about a snow white cat named Victoria (Francesca Hayward) who was abandoned in a sack on a street in London. She meets a society of ‘Jellical Cats.’ They tell her that each year one of these cats will be given a new life by Old Deutoronomy (Judy Dench). From there, we are introduced to different cats who hope to be given new life while Macavity (Idris Elba) capturing these cats so he can be given this new life.

I thought this movie was just okay. It was somewhat strange and at times, I felt a little uncomfortable. Sometimes by how the way the actors made cat noises, other times it was the way some of them danced (Rebel Wilson). Some of the songs were catchy. I think there was two or three where I told myself I would go home and listen to it more than once. I didn’t realize that majority of the musical was just the audience being introduced to different cats. Because of that there were times during the film I did get bored. I didn’t get bored too often because the sets were nice to look at.

There were two actresses that stood out the most for me. Jennifer Hudson, who plays Grizabella, was incredible. She had me with goosebumps, with her amazing opera voice and the emotion (and snot) she had. Francesca was amazing. She is such a beautiful dancer, and she shined everytime she was on screen.

I really wanted this movie to be amazing, given how excited I was for it, regardless of the negative comments. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it. This is definitely not a movie for someone who isn’t really into musicals. If you are a big fan of musicals though, I think this movie will leave you..entertained..in some way.

Rating: 2.6 out of 5

Nikki Castaneda (Contributor) is a Chicago Native who loves watching movies (some definitely more than once). Her favorite genres include Thrillers and Dramas. When she's not at the movies you can most likely find her at a live concert, singing along to a Disney classic or binge watching Netflix.
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