CATS – Movie 2019

CATS – In
Theaters December 20

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Genre: Epic Musical

Cast: James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer
Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson, and introducing Francesca
Hayward

Director: Tom Hooper

Screenplay by: Lee Hall, Tom Hooper

Based on: Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S.
Eliot, the musical “Cats” by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Producers: Debra Hayward, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Tom
Hooper

Executive Producers: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Steven Spielberg, Angela Morrison, Jo Burn

Oscar®-winning director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Misérables, The Danish Girl) transforms Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-shattering stage musical into a breakthrough cinematic event.

Cats stars James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and introduces Royal Ballet principal dancer Francesca Hayward in her feature film debut.

Featuring Lloyd Webber’s iconic music and a world-class cast of dancers under the guidance of Tony-winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, In the Heights), the film reimagines the musical for a new generation with spectacular production design, state-of-the-art technology, and dance styles ranging from classical ballet to contemporary, hip-hop to jazz, street dance to tap.

The film also stars Robbie Fairchild (Broadway’s An American in Paris), Laurie Davidson (TNT’s Will), hip-hop dance sensation Les Twins (Larry and Laurent Bourgeois), acclaimed dancer Mette Towley (featured in videos for Rihanna and Pharrell Williams’ N.E.R.D.), Royal Ballet principal dancer Steven McRae, and rising-star singer Bluey Robinson.

Universal Pictures presents a Working Title Films and Amblin Entertainment production, in association with Monumental Pictures and The Really Useful Group. Cats is produced by Debra Hayward, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Tom Hooper. The screenplay is by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot, Rocketman) and Hooper, based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and the stage musical by Lloyd Webber. Cats is executive produced by Lloyd Webber, Steven Spielberg, Angela Morrison and Jo Burn.

One of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, the stage musical “Cats” received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981, where it played for 21 years and earned the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. In 1983, the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and ran for an extraordinary 18 years. Since opening in London in 1981, “Cats” has continuously appeared on stage around the globe, to date having played to 81 million people in more than fifty countries and in nineteen languages. It is one of the most successful musicals of all time.

Louie Urquieta Lopez - Comments:

Cats (2019) Cats is based on a Broadway show about the Jellicle cats and it follows them through this special night where one of them will ascend into the light and get a chance to have a new life.

Now is this adaptation purr-fiction? Is it a Cat-astrophe? Does it Meow-tter? Now if you’ve seen the broadway show you should know the story is pretty out there, and this movie doesn’t shy away from that craziness.

The show is mostly about cats introducing themselves, most of this movie is about cats introducing themselves, the cats have three different names, that’s one of the first things that shows up in this movie, Jellicle is mentioned 90 times in the first 20 minutes of the show, I have no doubt this was the case for the movie as well; I admire that the director embraced the Cats universe and didn’t try to water it down for public appeal.

At the same time, this means a lot of people will not like this movie and I cannot blame them, the cats look weird, the plot is thin and the acting is all over the place. Jennifer Hudson, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen do a great acting job, Francesca Hayward ant the Jellicle cat crew are awesome performers, but at the same time, you have Rebel Wilson, James Corden and Idris Elba that are in a different movie that is parodying Cats.

All in all, I respect this movie because it has a lot of passion behind it. It is a really ambitious project and the director took it seriously but that is also its downfall. Score: 6/10

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Written by The Millennial TV