Cynthia Hardy

My adult daughter and I cancelled our original plans to see this and include the whole family due to the reviews. Even though we are all fans of the play version, the critics viewpoint’s made it hard to justify Cats as a movie choice. With some reluctance, my daughter and I went back to see it alone. We looked at each other with big smiles of relief when the movie started with much the same draw to the characters and music as the play. The CGI that appeared creepy in commercials, was well done and actually brought the cats fur and tails to life. The scenes are dark, but these are cats on the street, in allys, and abandoned buildings where it should be expected. The intrigue of watching actors transform themselves into another creature through body movement and facial expressions was still there even with CGI to assist. By using the cat, Victoria, as a new arrival to the group, the movie Cats even has a better way of explaining what is happening as we see everything from her vantage point. We thoroughly enjoyed the movie and will definitely watch it again at home. I let myself get into the performances of all the cast members and enjoy them. That said, the only negatives for my daughter and I were the casting of Rebel Wilson (Jennyanydots) and BustopherJones presentation. We laughed and enjoyed their performances, but didn’t feel they fit the parts. We both expected to see someone like Julie Walters (Mollie Weasley) to play Jennyanydots. Matronly and organized with some mischief and without the crude behavior. Bustopher Jones was supposed to be more of a sophisticate than a dumpster diver. I’m sure the director had some reason for these changes. If you didn’t like the play, generally don’t find it interesting or enjoyable to watch animals, hate musicals, or just plain don’t like cats, see something else. This is not the movie for you. If you are open minded, love music, enjoy art and find animals intriguing, forget the critics and enjoy.