Watching Cats in the midst of the COVID-19 quarantine was a surreal experience. I guess this movie should have been one of the first hints of the rollercoaster year that 2020 is currently shaping up to be.
Most of the movie made me narrow my eyes in search of the mission of this film. For one it's really funny that the ‘cats’ in this movie look a lot like humans dressed in cat suits who are really drunk and so want to put in a little more pizzaz into showing off their cat skills. Also ‘Jellicle’ sounds a lot like genitals at times which is highlights the fact that none of the male ‘cats’ have any visible genitals but all the female cats do have visible breasts (real cats were apparently never consulted during costume design). Also for a movie where the characters are visibly trying to come across as cats and they them selves identify as cats there are a surprising number of Cat puns that try to lighten the mood but just make it more cringe worthy.
Watching this film made me understand the need to be more self-compasionate. We all make mistakes and questionable choices. If Dame Judi Dench who has Macular degeneration and Sir Ian McKellen who suffers from memory loss chose to be part of this movie I guess I could live with my poor life choices as well (if only my life choices could pay me as well).
All in all, this movie gives Cats bad PR, really bad PR. It reduces these complex, majestic little furry beasts into laughing stocks and cats world over should consider suing.
Notable mentions: Why are cockroaches the same size as rats? That just shows that either they have teeny tiny rats or super massive cockroaches in their made-up universe.
Add on: The performances of the all the humans who are masquerading as cats are really really good individually but sewn together just cannot make you distracted from the fact that they are humans in digitally enhanced cat suits.