Cats. What can I say about Cats? It’s definitely an experience. The movie cost $95 million to produce, but unfortunately only made $74.6 million dollars in the box office. I’d consider it a two hour waste of my time. I mean, it did star some pretty cool actors and actresses! Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, James Corden, Francesca Hayward, Jennifer Hudson, and Rebel Wilson appeared in the movie. Other than the excitement of seeing some pretty cool actors and listening to some of the songs, this movie wasn’t interesting at all.

Cats is about “A tribe of cats compete during the annual Jellicle Ball, where one lucky feline will be chosen to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and be granted a new life."¹ Now, just thinking about the plot, it’s a simple idea, but also really isn’t too interesting. In terms of how this point was displayed in the movie, the movie sort of explained it. However, due to the musical aspect of the movie, it wasn’t explained well enough. The movie just mostly focuses on the singing abilities of the characters.

In my opinion, this movie was a 3/5. I can argue that it could be a 2/5, but I do have my reasons as to why it deserves the extra point. In my watching experience, I was able to understand the plot and the goal of the movie. I understood who the enemy was, I understood the different characters and their placement in the movie. The only reason I deducted 2 points was the HORRIBLE CGI and minor plot. With the CGI, seeing a human body and face with the texture of a cat is only what one would see in their nightmares. Even writing this now, I can visualize the characters and how uncomfortable their looks are.

Let’s talk about what I did enjoy about the movie: Songs and Plot! Now, the plot of the movie is simple and definitely a less creative idea, however it was interesting to see on screen. The ‘enemy,’ Macavity, has recruited different cats under him to help secure his spot as the cat who will earn a new life. During a scene, Taylor Swift’s character Bombalurina sings a song called “Macavity.” The song had a catchy tune and it’s easy to memorize the lyrics. During her performance of the song, she and two other Macavity recruits, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, sprinkle Catnip on the other cats to calm them and put them to sleep. Her song talks about how he’s gotten away with his crimes, how admired he is, and other things. This is my favorite song from the movie with Swift’s voice as well as the rhythm of the song making it a very catchy tune.

Some other favorite songs of mine are: “Old Deuteronomy” (which is a smooth and simple song with a great message, and the choir coming together to produce a beautiful song), Gus the Theatre Cat (Its jazz and more spoken lines make it a very understandable song and gets your attention with the story the singer is telling), “The Ad-dressing of the Cats” (Judi Dench’s voice as well as the choir add such an amazing tune and make the song so easy to listen to and the end of the song with the increase in volume from the quieter beginning make it such a pleasing song), “Mr. Mistoffelees” (With the context of the scene, the nervousness of the singer’s voice and the increase in confidence throughout the song is really enjoyable).

While movies and tv shows often make it obvious that a protagonist will end up winning or be chosen for something in the future, this movie makes it blatantly obvious. Throughout the film, the main character meets a bunch of the cats competing for a new life. She meets one, Grizabella, who seems to have gone through a lot. In the movie, she is depicted with a very somber mood and her song “Memory” shows this. Though I am glad she was chosen, I wish it was more of a mystery as to who would be chosen. They made her past so sad and melancholy, it was an easy decision to pick her.

In short, the movie was fine, not a terribly exciting thing to watch. The plot was scrambled throughout the movie and the CGI of each character made it a less enjoyable film. However, in my case, the plot was easy to understand and the songs were enjoyable. Seeing many celebrities and other popular actors was a great addition to the movie. No matter how bad the movie was, the actors and actresses will always have a great role to look back on and say, ‘Why did I do this?’ and laugh. If you aren’t a musical fan, I definitely don’t recommend this movie, however if you are, I definitely think some of these songs are fun to listen to.