Self Isolation Reviews: Cats (1998)
Well, last night I watched Cats (1998) for the first time. It was interesting.
Over the next twelve weeks I have to be in self isolation as I am considered high risk of getting a severe illness due to COVID-19 so I’m watching every DVD and every film on all my watchlists that I haven’t seen before. There’ll be reviews and thoughts here and there because no doubt I will have nothing else to do. Without further ado, here’s my thoughts on Cats (1998)!
Cats is something that I’ve always thought was pure crazy. I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of any of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s work but this musical always stood out to me as just being weird and bad. It may not be as bad as I always thought but it’s definitely odd. One thing I have to say is if I saw this before seeing Cats (2019) then I would’ve been really confused because I don’t think there’s a lot of plot explaining in this one but in the new version there’s dialogue which conveys the plot better than the songs do in this case. I wasn’t seeing that each cat had a song to compete to become the jellicle choice, and I didn’t feel that it was obvious that going to the Heavyside Layer is something they all want to do and when Grizabella is chosen, it didn’t seem obvious. Though I do enjoy a sung through musical I wish the audio was live when they filmed because I miss audience clapping and reactions! I was sat in silence in my bedroom clapping for them!
John Partridge is the stand out performer in Cats, he plays Rum Tum Tugger who has an excellent song and I just think he’s a great character, especially with Partridge at the helm. I felt that Jason Derulo in the new version didn’t quite hit the mark with Tugger, and I can’t explain why but if you’ve seen both his version and Partridges version then I’m sure you can understand when I say that Derulo just wasn’t Rum Tum Tugger enough.
I think it would be mad to talk about Cats without talking about those costumes. There’s something about the stage costumes that just makes sense, even though they look like they do. I wish we could’ve seen Cats (2019) with the stage costumes instead of the petrifying CGI they went with. Although I hate how Macavity looks in this, he fully is a terrifying cat. One thing I did feel that Cats (2019) got better was the fact that they can utilise the cats being in different locations but I understand why they didn’t in this version as it was the stage version at the time.
I really just want to praise Gillian Lynne for her stunning choreography, she truly deserves all the praise she had for it. If anyone has any recommendations for other shows that Gillian worked on please let me know, I wish I had known her before she died. Jellicle Songs is absolutely perfect, the choreography is likely one of the reasons that people flocked to see Cats in the theatre and I will watch this again just for that.
Is Cats (1998) better than Cats (2019)? No, they’re about the same. Though I’m not sure Cats is a show made for me, I’m sure there’s a group of theatre nerds out there that stan Cats and it’s their favourite thing ever. Good for them.
I just have one more question though, what is a jellicle cat?
Over the next twelve weeks I have to be in self isolation as I am considered high risk of getting a severe illness due to COVID-19 so I’m watching every DVD and every film on all my watchlists that I haven’t seen before. There’ll be reviews and thoughts here and there because no doubt I will have nothing else to do. Without further ado, here’s my thoughts on Cats (1998)!
Cats is something that I’ve always thought was pure crazy. I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of any of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s work but this musical always stood out to me as just being weird and bad. It may not be as bad as I always thought but it’s definitely odd. One thing I have to say is if I saw this before seeing Cats (2019) then I would’ve been really confused because I don’t think there’s a lot of plot explaining in this one but in the new version there’s dialogue which conveys the plot better than the songs do in this case. I wasn’t seeing that each cat had a song to compete to become the jellicle choice, and I didn’t feel that it was obvious that going to the Heavyside Layer is something they all want to do and when Grizabella is chosen, it didn’t seem obvious. Though I do enjoy a sung through musical I wish the audio was live when they filmed because I miss audience clapping and reactions! I was sat in silence in my bedroom clapping for them!
John Partridge is the stand out performer in Cats, he plays Rum Tum Tugger who has an excellent song and I just think he’s a great character, especially with Partridge at the helm. I felt that Jason Derulo in the new version didn’t quite hit the mark with Tugger, and I can’t explain why but if you’ve seen both his version and Partridges version then I’m sure you can understand when I say that Derulo just wasn’t Rum Tum Tugger enough.
I think it would be mad to talk about Cats without talking about those costumes. There’s something about the stage costumes that just makes sense, even though they look like they do. I wish we could’ve seen Cats (2019) with the stage costumes instead of the petrifying CGI they went with. Although I hate how Macavity looks in this, he fully is a terrifying cat. One thing I did feel that Cats (2019) got better was the fact that they can utilise the cats being in different locations but I understand why they didn’t in this version as it was the stage version at the time.
I really just want to praise Gillian Lynne for her stunning choreography, she truly deserves all the praise she had for it. If anyone has any recommendations for other shows that Gillian worked on please let me know, I wish I had known her before she died. Jellicle Songs is absolutely perfect, the choreography is likely one of the reasons that people flocked to see Cats in the theatre and I will watch this again just for that.
Is Cats (1998) better than Cats (2019)? No, they’re about the same. Though I’m not sure Cats is a show made for me, I’m sure there’s a group of theatre nerds out there that stan Cats and it’s their favourite thing ever. Good for them.
I just have one more question though, what is a jellicle cat?
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