Cats Comes Crashing Down

These days it feels as if Hollywood has run out of creativity. With sequel after sequel and remake after remake it feels as if there are no new stories to be told. Cats is the latest victim of this trope, premiering with its star-studded cast on December 20th 2019. I must confess: I have never seen the Broadway production, or any theatrical production, of Cats so my review will only be of the film by itself and not in comparison to the play. 

The film Cats had a less than flattering reputation from the beginning with the release of its teaser trailer. Twitter and other social media were quick with the jabs, quickly signing off on its application for nightmare material. The film was drowning before it even stepped in the water. Cats, directed by Tom Hooper, is a musical that follows a recently abandoned cat named Victoria’s (Francesca Hayward) journey into the world of the Jellicle Cats. The Jellicle Cats are competing for the opportunity to ascend to the Heavyside Layer and come back in a new life. These cats compete via musical performance but one by one each competing cat mysteriously disappears. For a very straightforward plot, the writers resorted to a lot of expository backpedaling that created a breeding ground for confusion. I had to look up the plot afterwards to make sure I didn’t miss anything. My brief explanation of the plot doesn’t begin to touch upon the more bizarre plot elements from the multidirectional love triangle, to the tired comedy of Rebel Wilson and James Cordon. One of the biggest concerns when the trailer came out, and one of the biggest problems the film faced, was the iconic musical’s transition from stage to screen. With the original musical’s campy costuming and heavy dance element, as well as its very origin in the theater, things were bound to not work. One of the most prominent things that did not translate well was plot. As I mentioned before, the plot is rather simple. However, there are moments and reprises that are dependent on the audience developing an emotional investment in the characters. In the theater, not as much work needs to be done in order to accomplish this. In film, on the other hand, more work needs to be done to develop characters and make them and their stories memorable to audiences, especially in a story with as many characters as Cats. This was such a problem for me because Cats could have been good if they just developed some of the characters a little bit more. This lack of attention toward character development caused certain scenes, especially musical reprises, that were supposed to be tear-jerking, emotional moments to be flat and uncomfortable for the audience. Like seeing a stranger crying on the train; feeling bad about the fact that you just don’t really care. 

Another major element of theater that didn’t translate well was the uncanny and uncomfortable way they chose to handle costuming, choreography, and the overall visual effect of this fuzzy masterpiece. The number one complaint from twitter when the trailer first came out was the fur costumes which planted themselves firmly in the uncanny valley between practical and digital effects. The effect was created by having the actors perform their scenes in motion capture suits and then digitally adding in the fur during the editing process. This method of adding in the fur and tails is also responsible for the strangeness that seemed to plague the choreography of the extensive and numerous dance numbers. Although many of the dance combinations were executed beautifully, especially those performed by Victoria (Francesca Hayward), Munkustrap (Robbie Fairchild), and Mr. Mistofolees (Laurie Davidson), there was a slight twitchy quality that glazed many of the dance numbers. At the end of many of the more involved group dance numbers, the camera would steady its gaze for an uncomfortably long time on the newly exhausted dancers as they heaved and gasped for air– another element that should not have been stolen from the theater. I did, however, enjoy how the sets retained a theatrical feel with the stage lighting, comically fake-looking props, and the flat, photo-like backdrops. These sets helped to recreate the charm of the theater and were a pleasant reminder of this musical’s origins.