Yes, a friend of mine and I went to see the film of Cats today. I enjoyed it somewhat more than I expected and a lot more than a lot of people in the theater thought I ought to. Some of them apparently thought it's acceptable behavior at a movie to hoot and yell things back at the screen if we're all in agreement that the film's a piece of garbage. I don't agree with that kind of etiquette ever and I don't agree that Cats is as bad a movie as some folks say.
Note that I did not say it was a great film. As I mentioned here, I've never seen Cats as it was meant to be seen — as a musical on the stage. But my sense is it's not possible to make a great film out of the source material and still remain reasonably faithful. What I'm thinking is what we saw this afternoon might just be the best movie that could be made out of it.
I thought it was visually splendid. I thought there are plenty of outstanding performances, including some fine dancing. I think some of the songs are pretty good. And I thought some of the vocal detractors in the audience were laughing at the movie when if they'd given the film more of a chance, they'd have been laughing with it. There was some rather funny stuff in there, especially with James Corden and Ian McKellen.
Yeah, the story's kinda weird. That's the story of Cats, a musical that millions have seen and most have loved. This is no time to change it. Yeah, it's weird to see all those people "made-up" (mostly by CGI) as quasi-human felines. Again, that's just what Cats is. About five minutes in, I decided to embrace the weirdness, the sheer outrageousness of it all. Some of the critics have said they should have made a cartoon out of the show. I decided to treat it as if they did. I had a much better time that way.
I am not exactly recommending this movie. If you can't get past the humans-as-cats, you'll be staring at it with the "Springtime for Hitler" look. If you can accept it for what it is, it might be a good way to introduce the kiddos to musical theater and you may enjoy it too. Just don't go because you think it's going to stink and you'll enjoy it for that reason. It doesn't and you won't. What you might do though is lessen the enjoyment for others in the theater who might be enjoying it.