Cats Movie Gets Mauled On Rotten Tomatoes

Reviews for the much talked about film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats are starting to flood in, and so far the majority of them have not been what you would call positive. At the moment a total of 89 reviews have the Rotten Tomatoes score sitting at a rotten 17%, and while there are 15 fresh reviews, 74 are in the Rotten category, and there are some similarities in the criticisms and praise. On the praise front, most reviews that mention the cast credit them with giving their all to bring these characters and songs to life, but that can’t seem to outweigh the negatives they’re fighting against.

There are two main culprits for that, and those are visuals and direction. Many reviews criticize the film’s CGI, turning the A+ cast that includes heavyweights like Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, and more into humanistic cats that just don’t seem to be resonating with people. There’s a lot of CGI in this film, so if you don’t buy in you’re going to have a hard time accepting anything else the film has to offer, and it seems that’s, unfortunately, the case here.

The second big criticism is the direction of Tom Hooper, with several critics saying the vision overall isn’t successful or that the movie feels boring, lifeless, and dull. For such a unique premise, the last thing the film should be is boring, but that seems to be a very common criticism.

ComicBook.com’s Charlie Ridgely shared some of those criticisms, calling Cats “A bold and Ludicrous trainwreck you won’t ever forget.” You can check out an excerpt below and the full review can be found right here.

“Cats is a special kind of terrible, though. No matter how ridiculous it gets, the cast never once backs down,” . Every single one of them is all-in at every moment. It’s a trainwreck from start to finish, but the sort of trainwreck that captures your attention with its audacity and never lets you go. It’s gripping in the most delightfully horrible way and easily one of the worst movies of the decade, by leaps and bounds. It’s such a unique and confident brand of awful, you’ll probably want to watch it again.”

Cats hits theaters on December 20th.