Yes, Cats gets a review all to itself, because my oh my there’s a lot to talk about. For starters, a personal qualifier: I love the stage musical. I own the specially filmed 1998 version on special edition DVD, and had the immense pleasure of seeing the show live at the Bristol Hippodrome a while back, a magical theatrical experience topped only by the out-of-this-world tour de force that was The Lion King. This is likely a big reason why I didn’t react nearly as violently as most to the original trailer for this film; I was a little taken aback, but intrigued, and willing to see where they were going. Now, finally, I have, and fair to say I have very mixed feelings about it.
Let’s deal with the main issue first, the thing that triggered the violent reactions to the trailer: the character designs. I don’t think there’s much doubt the idea was simply to make the stage characters real, to take that distinctive look and push it a whole lot further. It’s an interesting and quite bold approach, but really, really difficult to pull off. The stage makeup is heightened and stylised, almost impressionistic in a way, with feline touches throughout, especially the noses and the mouths. The film seemed to be going the same way, albeit with widely varying degrees of success, but then decided to pull back, have the faces be almost entirely human with feline around the outside. My impression is of ambition outstripping time and resources, and an unwillingness to fully commit to the approach – somewhat understandable after the reaction to the trailer – and the result is many different levels of uncanny valley discomfort, from the faint – Gus is actually pretty decent, and Victoria is reasonable – to the almost impossible to look at, like Bustopher Jones and the mice. It’s far and away the biggest misjudgement of the film, and seriously to its detriment.
It’s not the only one, either. The Jennyanydots sequence is dotted with jarring moments, most notably her snacking on the human-faced cockroaches, and the unzipping of her fur to reveal a costume underneath that’s disturbingly close to skinning. Nothing at all about Bustopher Jones works. The Rum Tum Tugger is lacking much of his rock ‘n’ roll swagger, and features a lot less than he does in the stage version. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are thoroughly undermined by a take on their song that has little shape or substance. Grizabella isn’t the presence she needs to be, and the singing of Memory is a little shouty. It’s a long succession of off notes that collectively contribute to the second-biggest problem with Cats: the tone.
The stage version is light on its feet, shot through with knowing, playful, self-aware humour; it never takes itself too seriously. The film, however, certainly does, straining so hard to be grand and sweeping and majestic it weighs itself down, a problem it shares with director Tom Hooper’s other big film musical, Les Miserable, a prime candidate for another overrated movies list. It also flattens itself out, with little variation in mood or pacing or energy, and no room for expressions of personality, and means the attempts at humour mostly fail. It just rolls steadily from one set piece to another, with no opportunities to really drink in the world or the characters, and no real spark or spirit, wasting all the positive things.
Yes, there are positive things. Using Victoria as the spine of the story, a way into and through the world of the Jellicle Cats, was a good, solid choice. Mr Mistoffelees being clumsy and lacking confidence was a charming take on him, and the use of his song to find that belief in himself, with help from Victoria and the bond they form, is nice. There are enjoyable performances, such as Idris Elba’s as Macavity and Ian McKellen’s as Gus. There’s plenty of gorgeous singing, and stunning dancing. The cinematography and sets are superb. There are genuinely things to enjoy about this movie, it’s just hard to enjoy them, really hard, with all the things it does wrong.
And therein lies the rub. Why Cats was made into a film is no mystery, as it’s one of the most successful stage musicals of all time. It’s also, however, one of the most unusual stage musicals of all time, and that presented a huge challenge the makers of the film simply weren’t equal to. It’s impossible not to think about the maybes – maybe animation would have worked better, maybe fully anthropomorphic characters driven by motion capture, maybe Tom Hooper was the wrong choice to direct – and that only adds to the frustrating truth: there’s the basis for a good movie here, the kernel of one, but it’s lost beneath a welter of really poor choices. One of the biggest missed opportunities I’ve ever watched.
4/10
Foxy Musings 