Cats (2019) | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

19% Tomatometer 334 Reviews 53% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Verified Ratings

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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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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Critics Reviews

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Cats (2019) | Rotten Tomatoes (1) 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 Cats (2019) | Rotten Tomatoes (2) 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 Cats (2019) | Rotten Tomatoes (3) 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 Cats (2019) | Rotten Tomatoes (4) David Griffiths Subculture Entertainment Cats may not leave its audience in awe the way Les Miserables did but it does have its own charm. The best way to approach the movie is to go into the cinema knowing you will be about to watch a theatre production rather than a big blockbuster film. Rated: 3/5 Oct 29, 2024 Full Review Cats (2019) | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Brittany Patrice Witherspoon Pop Culture Reviews If the cast and crew wanted audiences to feel like cats– easily distracted and bothered by almost everything– they’ve succeeded. Rated: 1/5 Jul 14, 2024 Full Review Cats (2019) | Rotten Tomatoes (6) 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 Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Michele D Like the musical, the music & costumes were AMAZING!!! Rated 5/5 Stars • 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 4.5/5 Stars • 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 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/13/20 Full Review Lakea Boring and too much singing Rated 0.5/5 Stars • 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 4.5/5 Stars • 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 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/20 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Tom Hooper Director Taylor Swift Bombalurina Idris Elba Macavity Judi Dench Old Deuteronomy Jennifer Hudson Grizabella James Corden Bustopher Jones
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Movie Clips

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Cats

Cats: Official Clip - The Rum Tum Tugger Cats: Official Clip - The Rum Tum Tugger 4:26 Cats: Official Clip - Gus: The Theatre Cat Cats: Official Clip - Gus: The Theatre Cat 3:46 Cats: Official Clip - Skimbleshanks, the Railway Cat Cats: Official Clip - Skimbleshanks, the Railway Cat 4:03 Cats: Official Clip - Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer Cats: Official Clip - Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer 3:35 Cats: Official Clip - The Old Gumbie Cat Cats: Official Clip - The Old Gumbie Cat 3:39 Cats: Official Clip - Bustopher Jones Cats: Official Clip - Bustopher Jones 3:56 Cats: Official Clip - Memory Cats: Official Clip - Memory 4:13 Cats: Official Clip - Mr. Mistoffelees Cats: Official Clip - Mr. Mistoffelees 2:42 Cats: Official Clip - Macavity & Catnip Cats: Official Clip - Macavity & Catnip 2:12 Cats: Official Clip - Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats Cats: Official Clip - Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats 4:07 View more videos

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Rotten Tomatoes is Wrong About... Cats Rotten Tomatoes is Wrong About... Cats 56:59 Cats: Exclusive Interview - RT Cats: Exclusive Interview - RT 15:30 Cats: Trailer 2 Cats: Trailer 2 1:39 Cats: Featurette - Beautiful Ghosts Cats: Featurette - Beautiful Ghosts 2:08 Cats: Trailer 1 Cats: Trailer 1 2:23 View more videos

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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

Producer
Debra Hayward, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Tom Hooper

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

Runtime
1h 50m

Sound Mix
Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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Cats (2019) | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

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