#this was an infodump brought to you by feather's special interest; cats

[camellia-thea]

Feather Reviews: 2019 Cats

For clarification, before I begin, I am a big fan of the traditional musical, Cats, and I grew up on it. I tend to ramble a little, but I have made an effort to make this cohesive.

This will, obviously, include spoilers for Cats. I will also state that this is my personal opinion, and I wanted to share it for those who are interested. I have nothing against people who disagree with my opinions, and am open to talk about how people felt.

Quick list of terminology: Queen’s Chorus: The older female chorus - Jennyanydots, Jellylorum, Bombalurina, Demeter. Kitten’s Chorus: The female kitten chorus - Excetera, Exotica, Electra, Jemima/Syllabub, (Victoria) Tom’s Chorus: The male chorus, including, but not limited to Tumblebrutus, Plato, Admetus. Often doesn’t include Munku or other cats with their own numbers. Original: When I state the original, I mean either the stage performances overall, or the 1998 filmed performance. Both are relevant and I focus on both too.

My initial ramble to some friends:

I am conflicted - on one hand, Cats was mostly awful and they did my boy so dirty. Misto wasn't Misto, he was an anxious boy (which I have no issue with, but it wan't my Misto). Skimbleshanks was wrong, and holy shit, Jennyanydots unzips her own skin and pulls it off revealing a cat in sexy clothing underneath, before eating literal children pretending to be cockroaches. Bustopher was a disappointment, but I got shivers with Memory, and Gus (though missing Jellylorum weeps) was fantastic. My biggest issue was the fact that a whole bunch of cats were missing or simply unnameable. I pride myself on being able to name all of the cats in stage version, but none of them have the same or even vaguely similar designs. Munkustrap was bearable, but not floofy enough, but he was really really good. Victoria was two characters in one: Jemima/Sillabub and Victoria. I saw Excetera, which was good, but apparently Demeter was there, but bad? She was just-- mean? She was meant to pity Grizabella (and is the second cat to touch her???) but was nasty and snarly and grey? She's a Tortie??? Has always been? hhhh, and though I did spot Coricopat and Tantomile -  who always move as one, but none of the non main cats had a big role, and most weren’t named or recognizable which was a shame.. and they MISSED the ORGY scene? WHY? it was a fantastic number, and had some great (if really sexual) dancing?

The numbers themselves:

Good Numbers and Dances: 

Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats; the beat was off on it, which made me mildly uncomfortable, but overal it was well done. Not as good as the original, but I enjoyed it, and it was a good first number. It was good as something to get used to the CGI for.  Memory (both); holy shit, Memory was really raw and emotional. No dancing for these, which was interesting. Gus; Ian McKellan gave me shivers. It lacked Jellylorum, which was upsetting, but he did really well, and I love this song normally, and I wasn’t  Beautiful Ghosts; okay, so I wasn’t expecting to like it, honestly, but I was pleasantly surprised. Vic was very raw and sweet, but I found it a little odd - I suppose it was her telling Grizabella not to give up, but it had a little of the @my pain is worse than your pain” thing, which bothered me. It was a sweet number though, and I enjoyed it. Jellicle Ball: Um... where was the orgy? Other than that, it captured the original, but had some new choreography, which was nice, actually. Couple of bits that didn’t quite work, but overall, a good piece.

Good Numbers, Bad Dancing:  Mungojerry and Rumpleteazer - the house scene was unnecessary and weird? But I enjoyed the sound - it was fairly true to the original. They missed the duo-cartwheel (is there a name for this? I feel like there is, but I don’t know it), which is one of the best moves in the entire musical, but it was missed? Whatever the reason, it was wrong. Grizabella the Glamour Cat - I liked this, though the tone felt off, and the acting was wrong. Demeter wasn’t right, and I think it was Cassandra instead of Bomba, which was also wrong? My ladies sing together. Rum Tum Tugger: I am so so so gad that it wasn't rap, holy shit - I have nothing against Rap!Tugger, but in this musical, it wouldn’t have worked. He had a good voice, and I really liked the way he held his notes, but his tone was a little off. Misto was a little unimpressive in it, where is my sassy boy? and I wasn't a fan of the dancing. It was good, sure, and I did see Excetera, which was nice, but overall, they lost Tugger’s theme. He also insulted Jenny? Which isn’t in character, I don’t think. Tugger’s an arse, but not that kind of arse.

Bad Numbers, good dancing:  hhhh Skimble my boy. Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat. They tried to modernize the music, but it was badly done. His tap was really good though - they mimicked the sound of trains going along, which was good. I didn’t enjoy his voice - where’s my Scottish cat? The 1998 version reminds me of living in Glasgow, but this didn’t have that, and lost a lot of Skimble’s charm, which was a shame.

Numbers that I honestly don’t know how to feel about: Mr Mistoffelees: Okay, so before I begin, you need some context. Mr Mistoffelees is my hands down favourite character in Cats - I’ve had a cat named after him, it was the first song I ever heard, and I relate him to my grandfather who has passed, so I have a lot of feelings here, and some will be unique to my situation.  This song isn’t about the Mr Mistoffelees that I know and love. This song was about a cat who was incredibly unsure about himself, and it shows in the vocals, in the dance, and in the music itself. It wasn’t sung by Rum Tum Tugger, and Misto’s character had so deeply changed that I couldn’t relate it to the original other than the lyrics themselves, and the fact that the goal of the song was to return Old Deuteronomy. However, I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was the only song that furthered a character’s development, and it was enjoyable over all. It did loose the charm of having Tugger sing about Misto, though, which was a big thing for me, I think. I certainly liked it but it wasn’t right, or fitting, however it was cohesive, and Misto got his confidence through it, which was good (and he was very sweet in it too).

Bad Overall:  Macavity; This one upset me. Macavity is another favourite, and I love Demeter and Bombalurina’s duet, and so removing Demeter was upsetting. The dancing was gone, which was awful. They missed a great opportunity to create a fantastic dark jazz number (perhaps on a similar line to Chicago? Something with that dark element that isn’t quite surface level), but instead we got TS nonconsensually drugging cats, and lying on a moon? There was so much that could’ve been done here, but they didn’t and it was bad. Gumby Cat - holy shit, Jennyanydots fucking unzipping her skin and eating children (dressed as cockroaches) was from stuff from nightmares.There was also an odd thing, after she unzipped herself (hhh, nightmare material), where she was suddenly in  this “sexy” bikini? It was just so utterly unnecessary and wrong. Jenny is meant to be an adoptive mother for most cats - Jellylorum being the other Mom Cat. The missing Queen Chorus was missing which was also sad and wrong.  Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town, James Corden is a great actor, and is normally great in musicals, but he isn't the right person? The casting was wrong, and the song was just plain weird? Where was him flirting? Where was my Queens Chorus, again? my girls? And his CGI was weird. This song just rubbed me the wrong way, and it might’ve been his pitch too, but it was just wrong and disconcerting. Growltiger’s Last Stand: This was the most unnecessary thing? Honestly, they didn’t even need to put him in. They used the first verse, and left it at that which was stupid, and also the full song is racist and awful anyway? Many companies have managed to fix both Growltiger’s Last Stand, and the Pekes and the Pollicles, but this was just lazy and unnecessary, as well as not fitting the original trackline at all? I don’t know. It was a clear bad decision, I think.

Character Evaluations:

Good Characters:  Munkustrap; damn, I was worried that they'd change him a lot, but he was pretty close and I loved him. His voice was great, and I loved his interaction. He was overall friendly, but wary of Victoria in the beginning, and I loved him a lot overall. I’m sad that he didn’t get some of his numbers/lines, and that bits an pieces were changes (why did you sing Tugger’s opening in Mister Mistoffelees, Munku, why?)  Victoria; great voice, great dancing, and I think that she did a very good job but I felt uncomfortable with her singing Jemima/Sillabub's piece. Gus; Ian McKellan is a fantastic actor normally, and I think he really understood Gus, which was great. Missing Jellylorum and his interaction, but I'm glad that he was cast. 

Cat's I'm conflicted on: Mistoffelees - My boy, my best boy, my special boy. I actually really liked him, but his CGI made me deeply uncomfortable, but I loved the costume (top hat boy!), and though he wasn't my Misto in terms of character, I think it was a good version. My one true critisism was that he was straight. (In 99% of all shows, he and Tugger are gay af for each other, and Tugger is chaotic bi.) His design shift was off - too much white, I think. But overall, I think I did like this interpretation. It wasn’t my Misto, but I feel like they did a good job, and the acting was great, so I can’t complain. Grizabella; Griz was fantastic, but I feel like she was too young. She had all the necessary emotion, but looked to be early thirties? I’ve always felt that Griz is meant to be a glamourous signer/dancer who has been forgotten and replaced by newer cats (ei Bombalurina and Demeter), rather than cast out because of a skint with Macavity. She was phenomenal though - her voice, the acting, the emotion, all really well done. Skimbleshanks: Honestly, I didn’t like his design? A mustache? Pants? WHy not let him keep his waistcoat and watch, and leave it? The pants were odd on him, and though i liked the suspenders, they didn’t add to the charm of the character?

Bad characters: Bombalurina; um? Why? WHy? WHY? Admittedly, I am not a fan of T*Sw*ft, but honestly, I feel like she was cast into the right character, who’s characterization was them butchered so that she couldn’t perform a decent role. She's a good singer, and I respect her work, but they ruined Bomba’s character, which made her job really difficult. Bomba doesn't work for Macavity, she sings about how he is bad, and her girlfriend was abused by him? They also ditched her original design, which was a shame - I love the red based tortoiseshell that she has in the performances.  Mungo and Rumple; They were done so dirty. Again, why did they work for Macavity? It wasn’t necessary, and honestly, I feel like it was lazy on the part of the creators? I did love their voices though, and their song was close to the original which was great.   Jenny and Bustopher: Again, shitty numbers did these two no favours, but they lost the characterization in this. Bustopher was meant to be pompous but also an okay dude. Jenny was meant to be motherly, and kind, but nope. Not happening here. I feel like for these two, all original characterization was dumped, and then personality was stitched together from ill-fitting material. Macavity: Look, Macavity has no spoken lines in the stageshow, and honestly, I liked that? His part was convoluted, off, and also hhh? Why was his costume like that? He looked like he was going to offer drugs to young children in the back alleyways. I always thought that Macavity would have class - the line “the Napoleon of Crime” references Moriarty, and I always thought of him as being similar to the novelization of Moriarty, but he wasn’t. It felt like he was trying to be suave and charming, but failing miserably. Demeter: My lady? Ruined? Yep, they went there. Deme honestly didn’t have a part, other than to be mean to people, which was awful. She got a duet, in Grizabella the Glamour Cat, but honestly, it was a terrible piece. She wasn’t herself, and honestly, that wasn’t Demeter, that was just a grey cat who sang one of the parts that Demeter sang in the stageshow.

Cats that I straight up didn’t see: Jellylorum.

I mean, there were others, but they completely got rid of Jellylorum, who has a pretty damn big part? She’s the lead of the Queen’s Chorus

Continuing on with the list: Most of the Kitten Chorus. I actively recognized Electra but no others. Most of the Tom’s Chorus. I think I saw Admetus, and Tumble in Jellicle Cats, but nowhere else.

I was upset by the fact that most character’s original designs were ditched? We didn’t really get the calicos or tortoiseshells. Making Vic a tabby was odd? She was a plain white cat in the show, and it didn’t need to be changed? And Tugger’s mane wasn’t big enough (I weep for the loss of his floof).

Costume, Set, Prop, and CGI:  Overall, the CGI was surprisingly good. The cats themselves where disconcerting at the beginning, but it was surprisingly easy to get used to. I think they should've given them noses, and made their lips less pink (Looking at you, Misto), but it was okay. The crawling was weird - human proportions with long legs and short arms was disconcerting, but I could ignore it. There were points where the CGI made the entire thing so much worse (Gumby Cat, I am looking at you) but it was bearable, and even charming by the end. It could’ve been done much better (just plain animated would’ve been fantastic, or even if they’d stuck closer to the costumes?), but it was okay, and I found myself not paying that much attention to it, which means that it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could’ve been.

There was an odd thing in terms of set, where some things were proportions as though it was made for the cats, some were proportioned as though it was for giants, and some was as though they were for a cat's perspective of humans? There was just no continuity there. Same with the props, which was odd, but overall okay. 

Costume and design was mostly good. As I said, I loved Misto's garb - a top hat, with sequens but human sized sequins! very sweet boy. Tugger was odd, but it fit. His mane wasn't big enough, and was a coat instead, which was odd-- Jenny made me feel uncomfortable again, and did Bustopher. Macavity was a disappointment (he's ginger? “Macavity’s a ginger cat, he’s very tall and thin,” But was brown and wearing a coat that made me think of the hey, kid, want some drugs character, as I said before? Which i guess was intentional, but I don't know. He's written as being like Moriarty? So suave and charming, but not?). I feel like they could’ve pretty easily taken a deep red-brown tabby, and gone off with that, but they didn’t, and he wasn’t scary, or creepy, just wrong, and I half wanted to laugh whenever he was onscreen because of it. Griz was pretty good. I liked her coat, but I wished she looked a bit more 'drowned rat'-ish  with some torn up fancy clothes under? I don't know. . Growltiger. Huh. I wasn't expecting him, but also I really didn’t like his design. It was shady, and grimy, and his colourscheme was right, but it didn’t match the slightly majestic stage version of him, which was unfortunate.

Plot: Plot-wise, they honestly should’ve left it the way it was on stage. Macavity’s plot was frustrating, off, and overall unnecessary. Having it told through Victoria’s eyes was interesting, but not unwelcome, however and she gave the show a different angle which was welcome in my opinion. A lot of the music didn’t fit together in the same way as the original. It felt a lot more disjointed, and it wasn’t something I expected. Some of the dialogue was unnecessary and muddled the plot a little more than it needed to be (I’m looking specifically at Macavity’s part, I think.) Overall, the changes to the plot weren’t great, but what can you do.

Sound: I’ll start this section by stating that I have auditory processing issues that are normally really bad, and I rarely watch films/youtube without subtitles, so this section is a little more personal for me. I struggle with watching and hearing things at the same time - I normally only process one or the other, and so I loose a lot of dialogue normally in most films. I can cope with the 1998 filmed version of Cats simply because I know the music so well. I could listen to this, including the parts that I wasn’t familiar with (ie, spoken dialogue, and Beautiful Ghosts) without subtitles, and also I didn’t find myself overwhelmed by all the movement and musical changes, which was great, because it’s normally an issue for me. All in all, that’s a big plus for me, and I think that it was great.

Overall: I rate this film a 5/10. I wouldn’t pay to see it again, but I might borrow it from a library when it comes out on DVD. I rate the music a 6/10. There were some really great songs, but also some severely lacking ones. I rate the characterization a 5/10. Victoria, Munkustrap and Mistoffelees prevented this from going any lower, but still, it wasn’t great for anyone other than them. I rate the dancing a 7/10, overall the dancing was really well done, and I think they could’ve done a lot with it. I rate the plot a 4/10. A lot of it was unnecessary, or overly complicated. I think they should’ve stuck with the original. I rate the casting a 7/10. Mostly good, a couple I disagreed with, but I feel like they did pretty well. In comparison, I rate the 1998 filmed version a 9/10, points being deducted for the racism in several numbers (looking at you, Pekes and the Pollicles)

Would I recommend this film: It depends on the person, I think. I would say that a fan of Cats should watch it, simply so they can see another interpretation, even if there are parts that are wildly wrong in my eyes. I wouldn’t suggest it to younger viewers, simply because it’s not a simple plot, and the CGI can be disturbing. I would recommend it to people who want to watch Cats, but don’t have the energy, because even if the plot was iffy, it was easy to understand, and to follow, and is a good way to lead people into the stage versions. A final sentence summarizing my experience: I was pleasantly surprised by most of the 2019 Cats - I had been expecting much worse, and there were certainly thoroughly enjoyable parts.