Cats (2019)

A cat (Francesca Hayward) in a bag is dumped by her owner in an alley and abandoned. Rescued by a tribe of cats, she is just in time for the Jellicle Ball where Old Deuteronomy (Judi Dench) will announce which cat will ascend to the heavens and come back to a new life! Based on the smash Broadway musical (it ran for 18 years and 7,485 performances) and directed by Tom Hooper (LES MISERABLES). I'm a cat lover but the popularity of the stage show has always eluded me. I saw the show during its Broadway run and I thought it was just awful. Is it possible to make a good movie out of a bad stage show? Yes but CATS isn't it. As movie musicals go, CATS isn't as bad as THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (what could be?) but the question is should it have been made into a movie at all? The stage musical is such a theatrical conceit that a film version was doomed to failure. I think the critics have been sharpening their knives for this one since the film version was announced! Still, considering the strikes against it, it's surprisingly enjoyable in a WTF way. The show's strong suit was its choreography (the songs are pretty bad) and Hooper allows Andy Blankenbuehler's choreography to take center stage without too many distracting cuts. Some of the performers acquit themselves admirably (Idris Elba, James Corden, Taylor Swift) while others aren't so lucky (Ian McKellen, Rebel Wilson). It's almost impossible to redeem a song as dreadful as Memory but Jennifer Hudson almost does it which is a testament to her talent. This has cult film written all over it. With Jason Derulo and Laurie Davidson.