Cats movie shock: Studio sending out NEW version to cinemas – What have they changed?

It was already a brave move to open the film against Star Wars. The Rise of Skywalker was always going to dominate the box office as the final film of a saga spanning 42 years and generations of movie goers. Universal Studios obviously hoped to “counter-programme” the same weekend and pick up everyone else who wasn’t a Star Wars fans. It worked for Jumanji and The Greatest Showman in recent years. However, Cats came into cinemas on a wave of concerns and a huge viral backlash after the first trailer was released.

After huge anticipation, the first trailer was met with a tidal wave of derision and mockery.

It focussed on the extreme CGI effects which covered the actors in dense realistic fur. The consensus was that it was bizarre at best, disturbing at worst.

In the last few months, the studio worked frantically to address the issue. This will have been spectacularly time-consuming. The result, in my opinion, is actually worse than before. Now the cats all have very human faces with fur around the edges and strangely furry bodies. And lets not even talk about the cheap-looking mice.

There is also a massive issue with none of the scenes and sets seeming real. You can see the characters are not actually touching the CGI’d floor in far too many shots.

“Insiders say it is being done at Hooper’s request.

“Hooper has been upfront about the fact that he barely finished the CGI-heavy Cats in time for the Dec. 16 world premiere in New York City. Sources say he subsequently wanted to make more tweaks to certain effects.

“The studio declined to comment on Saturday.”

The film is languishing on a rather poor 19% reviews aggregate.

One Britsih broadsheet even gave the film a staggering zero stars review.

The major problem seems to be that the concept works perfectly fine in a theatre. Audiences can suspend beliefe and the performers actually create a far more convincing and magical illusion with their movements.

The movements on the screen are disastrously awkward in many scenes and group scenes expose shoddy editing and jerky transitions. Basically, it looks very fake.

Add to that the inescapable fact that Cats never had an actual plot.

It is based on TS Elliot’s series of poems and the musical is constructed around a series of individual character songs. Too many of the songs are middling at best and only when Jennifer Hudson unleashes the barnstorming Memory does any real magic happen on the big screen.

Adding stars like Rebel Wilson, Ray Winstone, James Corden, Taylor Swift and Idris Elba is a distraction rather than a bonus. Only Judy Dench manages to rise above it all.

It is a tragedy for the younger, lesser-known stars of the film, like Francesca Haywood and the excellent Laurie Davidson and Robbie Fairchild as Monkustrap and Mr Mistoffelees. They all deserved far better.

source: express.co.uk