As they say in the wonderful Netflix documentary Don't f*ck with cats, in the Internet of the XNUMXst century they like cats, and they like them a lot. However, the recent failure of one of Universal's most ambitious productions for 2019, Cats (3,6 mark in FilmAffinity), has shown that every rule has its exception. The comments about Cats on the Internet they have been very numerous, yes. But not for the reasons that those responsible for the film would have wanted.
The critics agree in their evaluations: the plot (if there is one) is not understood, the special effects are bad, the characters cause fear and, in general, the nonsense of Cats it is widespread.
The list of great failures of Hollywood has a new owner: arctic dogs
Two weeks after its premiere, we can already speak of resounding failure without fear of being wrong. After grossing $38 million worldwide, Cats It is already facing the direct route towards one hundred million dollars in losses once it has been confirmed that its box office figures are far from being recovered.
This figure comes from estimates that take into account the future development of the tape in the world box office. In other words: the final figure of economic losses of the film directed by Tom Cooper could be even worse.
At least Cats It has a nomination at the 2020 Golden Globes in the category for Best Song.
The specialized media Variety estimates that between filming and promotion, the costs of the film amount to 200 million dollars. Definitely, that Universal send to theaters a second corrected version of Cats did not act in his favor.
In addition, a few days ago it was confirmed that Cats It would not be nominated for an Oscar after the Universal studio decided to withdraw the film from the list of pre-selected films. Perfect storm.
Devastating criticism of the failure of the film Cats
Although there is no doubt that the disastrous word of mouth has been one of the main culprits of the film's defenestration, the professional criticism sector has also contributed its grain of sand. It is truly difficult to find positive opinions of the film, played by Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden, Idris Elba, Rebel Wilson, Jason Derulo, Ian McKellen and Judi Dench.
The reviews of Cats they are relentless. On its FilmAffinity page it is not possible to find a single positive review. In Metacritic the film has received a note of 32, and in R the grotesque is even worse with an average grade of 18. How is it possible that a film of this magnitude has been released in theaters, we all wonder, including the New York Times. His critic Manohl Dargis assures that "a doctoral thesis could be written on how this failure has come to light."
Just as elegant is Alison Willmore, from vulture, commenting that saying Cats is right or wrong is the wrong way to approach it, as the film is an "eyesore" as a whole". There are not a few who think that, so bad, the film will become a cult work. Elsa Fernandez Santos, of The country, He sums it up nicely when he says Cats it is a film that is on its way to becoming a success in spite of itself: «One of those films that are so absurd and crazy that everyone wants to see because they guarantee a good time».
John Nugget of empire, ensures that the human brain will not understand the film. "They don't look like humans or cats, just Snapchat-filtered lab mutants," says the critic, ending with "it's an annoying movie from start to finish."
The Hollywood Reporter speaks in terms of "cat-astrophe." Peter Debruge of Variety, claims that "Cats' damages the eyes and ears" due, in part, to the fact that "all of its musical numbers, including that of 'Memory', have been transformed into theatrical cameos of award-seeking stars."
Uneven year for Universal's box office
Luckily for them, not everything has been bad news for Universal in 2019. Among the successes that it has released this year we find the first spinoff of the saga Fast&Furious, Hobbs&Shaw, How to train your dragon 3, Good Boys, Yesterday y LastChristmas.
That said, be very careful with the horizon that is drawn for the beginning of next year.
The start of 2020 could somewhat fix the outlook for Universal after the failure of Cats. Or finish breaking it. Let's remember that on January 17 another one of those films is released with which one does not quite understand the mechanisms of the film industry very well. Does the public really want a reboot of the adventures of Doctor Dolittle? Starring the forever Iron-Man Robert Downey Jr, and costing $175 million, Dolittle could well be another resounding failure for the production company that in recent years has successfully revived the saga of JurassicPark.
Let the reader be the judge with the trailer for The Adventures of Doctor Dolittle: