Starring James Corden, Judi Dench, Robbie Fairchild, Francesca Hayward, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Laurie Davidson, Rebel Wilson, Jason Derulo, Ray Winstone, Mette Towley and Taylor Swift.
Written by Lee Hall & Tom Hooper.
Directed by Tom Hooper.
★½
I saw this show up on HBOMax, and I said to myself, "I need to see something so spectacularly panned for myself." I've listened to the soundtrack several times but have never seen the play.
There's a level you have to give it if you're going to dare watch this. Yes, the CGI effects take a minute to get used to. This isn't like Bert Lahr in makeup as the Cowardly Lion. Their ears move like a real cat's, but their faces are human. But with whiskers. And... I don't know. You see what they are and know that it's going to be like THAT for the movie, so you go from there.
One of the problems I had with it was with Hooper's direction. He doesn't protect his actors in musicals. Because Hooper wanted live singing, Russell Crowe was left out to dry in Les Miserables. Here, Jennifer Hudson's "Memories" should be the emotional highlight of the movie, but she ugly-cries through the whole thing, and I'm like "Why? Why didn't the released version of the movie have more levels?"
The other problem is the source material. Let's face it. Cats has no plot. It has a series of songs strung together, and those involved have to hope their number is handled well. I thought James Corden's Bustopher Jones was fun, Laurie Davidson's Mr. Mistoffelees was one of the more sympathetic characters, and for others, well, I couldn't wait for Rebel Wilson's Jennyanydots to get off-screen.
There's one number where there are mice dancing to a number, and two or three get eaten during the number, but the show must go on. It's bizarre. The singing cockroaches were just unnerving.
