Cats
Universal Pictures | Release Date: December 20, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
32
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 51 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
23
Negative:
22
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
TimeStephanie ZacharekDec 19, 2019
Hayward is the very best thing about Cats, a movie that, like cats themselves, is otherwise filled with contradictions. Cats is terrible, but it’s also kind of great. And, to cat-burgle a phrase from Eliot himself, there’s nothing at all to be done about that. Read full review
60
SlateMarissa MartinelliDec 18, 2019
It’s 80-year-old Ian McKellen who can best answer that last question, having the most fun of anyone as Gus the Theater Cat, lapping out of saucers and rubbing up against corners like the true thespian he is. And really, for all its flaws, what more could you possibly ask for from Cats? Read full review
60
Screen RantSandy SchaeferDec 18, 2019
In spite of its shoddy sound design (Hooper, as he did with Les Mis, has his cast sing live, but their vocals are poorly blended with the instrumentation), Cats' actors are perfectly matched to their respective roles. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfDec 18, 2019
Cats may flop but it will be found by a likeminded audience, maybe the same one that rescued The Greatest Showman. Don’t be the sourpuss to tell these people they’re wrong. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelDec 18, 2019
I guess I was charmed in spite of myself. I’m reminded of a quote from Alexander Pope I had to memorize as a kid, which gave me fair warning about the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber and “Cats”: “Vice is a monster of so frightful mien / as to be hated needs but to be seen; / Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, / We first endure, then pity, then embrace.” Did I tear up a little? Maybe. Do I ever need to see “Cats” again? Nah, I’m good. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattDec 18, 2019
Even after 110 tumbling, tail-swishing, deeply psychedelic minutes, it’s hard to know if you ever really knew anything — except that C is for Cats, C is for Crazy, and C is probably the grade this cinematic lunacy deserves, in the sense of making any sense at all. And yet that somewhere under the Jellicle moonlight, it is somehow, too, an A++. Read full review
58
IndieWireEric KohnDec 18, 2019
It takes some ambitious swings and works on its own terms in fits and starts, all while not really working at all. Like the T.S. Eliot poems that inspired it, Cats is an elaborate lark. Read full review
55
The AtlanticDavid SimsDec 19, 2019
Whether you think the imagery is beautiful or nightmarish, this is a film that demands to be looked at. If nothing else, I can confirm it’s the most Jellicle experience I’ve had all year. Read full review
50
Original-CinThom ErnstDec 23, 2019
Sadly, despite the film’s gallant efforts, I am forced to join the ranks of the naysayers. In the end, I did find that the CGI effects were as creepy as they are impressive, and there were more failed numbers than there were successful ones. Read full review
50
PolygonKaren HanDec 19, 2019
Cats undermines itself in both editing and musical arrangement, barely has a plot to hang its hat on, and is CGI-ed into oblivion. Yet there’s something weirdly wonderful about just how committed Hooper is to his vision, which feels like it should have been audience-tested into something less phantasmagorical. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanDec 18, 2019
None of this is by way of saying that Cats is bad, per se. In fact, some of the songs are pretty toe-tapping at times. Read full review
50
VoxAlissa WilkinsonDec 18, 2019
It’s literally incredible. I hope I never see it again. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonDec 18, 2019
I found “Cats” pretty bland, but it has its moments of catnip, and as a holiday movie option that anyone could see, it might be just the ticket. Read full review
50
SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiDec 18, 2019
Its premise is ridiculous, its entire appeal based on the novelty of having a bunch of Lycra-clad strangers thrust their hips at you in the dark. Hooper creates something just as bizarre with his Cats, though not as successfully electrifying. Its flashes of brilliance feel like happy accidents and its uncanny technical choices are never overcome. Read full review
45
IGNMatthew DoughertyDec 18, 2019
Cats’ special effects render director Tom Hooper’s star-studded adaptation of the Broadway classic a lifeless disaster, though a few of its more charismatic cast members, namely Judi Dench and Idris Elba, manage to get a few licks in to add an alluring, ironic camp value. Read full review
40
Total FilmNeil SmithDec 19, 2019
A lot of talented people have done their utmost to make Hooper’s vision succeed. Sadly, it doesn’t. Read full review
40
The Irish TimesTara BradyDec 19, 2019
The real issue is the distracting and disturbing “digital fur technology”. Every time Cats settles into an admittedly avant-garde shape, an ear twitches or a tail flicks and you’re back thinking about how ghastly the actual cats look. Read full review
40
Vanity FairRichard LawsonDec 18, 2019
It’s an ugly stray who smells bad and should not be invited into your home, certainly. And yet it is its own kind of living creature, worthy of at least some basic compassion. Read full review
40
Screen DailyStephen Whitty Dec 18, 2019
Badly cast, broadly directed, and hampered by a book that hasn’t aged well since the musical’s 1981 West End debut, it’s hard to imagine just who this film’s target audience is. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 18, 2019
Generally, Hooper pulls away from loony-tunes excess, tries for sexy rather than freaky, and plucks at heartstrings, a reflex that pulls the story into mawkishness, particularly when he cuts to Victoria. Read full review
40
BBCNicholas BarberDec 18, 2019
Cats needed more narrative, more comedy, more show-stopping tunes, and more choreography that hadn’t been chopped to ribbons by the editors. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreDec 18, 2019
There is something magical about the simple fact that this movie exists, in all its obscene, absurd wonder, its terrible filmmaking choices and bursts of jaw-dropping talent. It doesn’t need to be timely to be an artifact of its time — a movie about nothing but song and dance and, most important of all, about cats. Read full review
40
EmpireJohn NugentDec 18, 2019
Destined to be an instant guilty pleasure, Cats is an insane musical experiment gone wrong. It is truly like nothing cinema has ever seen. The question is, is it something cinema actually wanted? Read full review
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