Cats

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Cats is based off of the popular broadway play. Normally, this would be the point where I would try and describe the basic plot of the film I review. In the case of Cats, that’s kind of hard because I’m not entirely convinced this film actually had a plot. This is a film that seems to just go from scene to scene without much of an actual throughline. I guess it’s kind of there, but it feels incredibly weak, at best. The film tries to have some humorous moments. None of them actually land. There’s this uncanny valley when it comes to the effects. Sometimes, they looked okay. Sometimes, they just looked horrifying. The acting is hit and miss. Some actors were alright. There were a couple of performances that surprised me. Those were that of Taylor Swift, Ian McKellen, and Judi Dench. In Swift’s case, it’s because she really wasn’t that bad. It helps that the movie honestly limits the singer’s role to her actual strengths. Dench and McKellen kind of gave off the opposite effect, especially Ian McKellen. He just feels completely lost throughout this thing. It is the first time I think I have seen him in a movie and felt that he was truly awful. I also have mixed feelings about the music. The songs are actually pretty good, but they pretty much come from the original broadway musical, so I can’t really count that as a positive in this film’s favor. I also have to mention the fact the dance sequences don’t feel nearly as impressive. It would be one thing if I saw the dancing performed by trained actors as opposed to CGI creations. Overall, Cats proves to be one of the most misguided and baffling bad movies of the year. 

3 / 10