Cats | Rotten Tomatoes

Cats

PG

Now Playing

1 hr. 50 min.

Musical

Comedy

Drama

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for Cats: Trailer 2

List

19%

334 Reviews

Tomatometer

53%

5,000+ Verified Ratings

Audience Score

A tribe of cats must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life.

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Watch Cats with a subscription on Netflix, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Critics Consensus

Despite its fur-midable cast, this Cats adaptation is a clawful mistake that will leave most viewers begging to be put out of their mew-sery.

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Michele D

Like the musical, the music & costumes were AMAZING!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/01/20

Full Review

Scott Essman

Though it was critically lambasted and commercially disastrous in the USA, Universal's film adaption of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats stage musical from 1981 presents the magic of said stage show in a throughly entertaining and visually stimulating piece of cinema, meant to be seen and heard in a proper movie theater with adequate projection and sound systems. Significantly, Jennifer Hudson's rendition of "Memory" and her portrayal of Grizabella will bring all those who do not have the coldest of hearts to tears, while Taylor Swift's setpiece as Bombalurina shows that the pop star has a bright future ahead in films if she so desires. Heartbreaking and poignant, Sir Ian McKellen's segment as Gus, the Theater Cat stirs deep emotions for anyone who has ever desired to hold an audience with a touching story, song, work of art or any other type of live presentation. Much criticism was directed at the Cats' visual effects—which apparently faced production and time problems—but the choice of merging computer-generated feline appearances and behavior with practical makeups and costumes on the actors is never a distraction and only serves to help tell the story of these unique characters, originally described in T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" from 1939. Unquestionably, Webber's original show, staged on Broadway in 1983 to great success, reached a massive global audience, with a reported 3.5 billion in box office returns across the world. Such success, as with Webber's Phantom of the Opera 1980s show, apparently is set up for due backlash when arriving on cinema screens. Nonetheless, fans of the live Cats show would be amiss to skip this courageous motion picture telling of the musical.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/30/20

Full Review

Princess

I watched a live performance of Cats & loved it. I only saw it once & I was young, in the single digits, so I didn't remember all the details going into the movie. I am absolutely certain the play was better than the movie! The songs were good, the actors did a good job, & there were some comical moments. There were also a lot of lackluster scenes & confusing moments. It didn't seem to go anywhere most of the time.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/13/20

Full Review

Lakea

Boring and too much singing

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/20

Full Review

Margaret B

A very well produced film. The effects, acting, dancing, and singing were superb. A little out there, but wonderful.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/02/20

Full Review

Kayla

this move suck and you can not even tell what they are singing a major disappointment and my expectations was not high to begin with 😤

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/20

Full Review

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Tom Hooper

Director

Taylor Swift

Bombalurina

Idris Elba

Macavity

Judi Dench

Old Deuteronomy

Jennifer Hudson

Grizabella

James Corden

Bustopher Jones

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Show More Cast & Crew

Cats: Official Clip - The Rum Tum Tugger

4:26

Cats: Official Clip - Gus: The Theatre Cat

3:46

Cats: Official Clip - Skimbleshanks, the Railway Cat

4:03

Cats: Official Clip - Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer

3:35

Cats: Official Clip - The Old Gumbie Cat

3:39

Cats: Official Clip - Bustopher Jones

3:56

Cats: Official Clip - Memory

4:13

Cats: Official Clip - Mr. Mistoffelees

2:42

Cats: Official Clip - Macavity & Catnip

2:12

Cats: Official Clip - Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats

4:07

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Deborah Ross

The Spectator

The film is flat, without any of the camp, kitsch high energy that characterised the stage show, but its wrongness is never less than mesmerising.

May 30, 2020

Full Review

Alonso Duralde

Breakfast All Day

You can't believe what you're looking at because it's so hideous to behold.

Rated: 2/10

Jan 23, 2020

Full Review

Robbie Collin

Kermode & Mayo's Film Review

There's a digital veneer of horror and farce and glazed looks, and it just doesn't work, it's not sensibly thought about.

Jan 13, 2020

Full Review

Dallas King

Flick Feast

It is unlikely anyone will be feline good after witnessing this cat-astrophe because ultimately it was the morbid curiosity that killed the Cats…

Rated: 1/5

Nov 11, 2022

Full Review

M.N. Miller

Ready Steady Cut

I’m sure Taylor Swift’s next big hit will be a song about the jilted experience.

Rated: 1/5

Aug 23, 2022

Full Review

Pat Padua

Washington City Paper

If by some chance, “Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat” doesn’t make you want to poke your ears out and wish that music had never been invented, bless your sincere, furry hide.

Jul 5, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

A tribe of cats must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life.

Director: Tom Hooper
Executive Producer: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Steven Spielberg, Angela Morrison, Jo Burn
Screenwriter: Lee Hall, Tom Hooper
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Working Title Films, Monumental Pictures, Amblin Entertainment
Rating: PG (Some Rude and Suggestive Humor)
Genre: Musical, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 20, 2019, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 20, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $27.2M
Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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