We thought we had outrun the horror that is the 2019 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s iconic musical, Cats, but thanks to Netflix, the film has reentered our collective consciousness. If you haven’t yet seen the movie musical and are considering watching it simply because it’s now available on Netflix, hear us out as to why that’s a decision you’ll regret.
‘Cats’ Should’ve Stayed on the Stage
Though it’s a rather polarizing genre, there’s plenty of good reason for producing a movie musical. First, there’s the potential to make loads of money – both Frozen films grossed over $1 billion at the box office, as did the 2017 live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast (and plenty of others have raked in hundreds of millions). From a narrative standpoint, some stories are best told with musical numbers, and from a cultural standpoint, some musicals need to be adapted to the screen to reach a wider audience than what is possible through the stage.
Despite all those valid reasons, not all musicals should be adapted to film. Cats is one of those musicals.
Now, this is nothing against the stage production – who are we to question the genius of Mr. Weber? The show is one of the longest-running productions in Broadway history and has grossed billions of dollars since its premiere. It’s won multiple prominent awards, and it’s got some of the most recognizable tunes of any musical in history. It’s a great stage production.
However, Cats makes almost zero sense. It famously doesn’t have a plot – something, in our opinion, movies need – and it’s not a story that everyone needs to hear at least once in their life. The appeal of Cats on stage is the production value, the choreography, the costumes, the sets; it’s an experience, and it can’t be replicated on film.
Still from ‘Cats’ / Universal Pictures
Lots of Effort but No Return
The filmmakers did what they could. They hired well-known multi-talented performers. They tapped Oscar winner Tom Hooper, who brought to film the mostly well-received 2012 Les Misérables, to direct. They spent nearly $100 million to make it. Sadly, no amount of effort was going to be enough to make a film adaptation of Cats not terrible (and it seems that there’s no way to make CGI cats not horrific).
Plenty of movies are so bad they’re good. Plenty of movies aren’t appreciated in their time. Plenty of movies are wrongfully panned by critics. Cats is none of those things. It’s just bad, it should not be appreciated, and critics were right to trash it. Watch literally any movie musical instead.
Cats is streaming now on Netflix.
