Was there ever a film so perfect for meme fodder as Tom Hooper’s Cats?
After the first trailer piqued the Internet’s collective interest with its uncanny humanoid cats fashioned from “digital fur technology” back in July, it became one of the most talked-about releases of the year - though most of that talk consisted of a series of increasingly concerned questions.
Could a synth-heavy, plot-light stage musical from Andrew Lloyd Webber (based in turn on a book of poems by T.S Eliot) actually spawn a decent film? Why was cat Judi Dench wearing a coat of cat fur? Was Jennifer Hudson really that keen for another Oscar? And would we ever sleep peacefully again?
The first flurry of critical responses suggested that the answer to the first and last of those questions was a resounding ‘no’ - the Standard’s critic suggested that Cats was “nearly as obscene as the Human Centipede” - but one tiny sliver of sunlight in the darkness of star-free reviews was the promise of some truly hilarious memes.
Since the film opened in cinemas on Friday (December 20), Twitter has been dominated by film fans’ brilliant (and scathing) responses as they attempt to make sense of what they have just witnessed. Here are some of the best…
Some fans suggested that Cats should be classified as a horror film rather than a musical
Others were quizzical about some of the promotional materials...
Some merely photoshopped the (terrifying) characters into unexpected places:
Director Tom Hooper didn’t finish the film until the morning before the premiere after working for a solid 36 hours - sound familiar from your student days?
A report from The Hollywood Reporter then claimed that a new version with “improved visual effects” will soon land in cinemas - a twist which only provided Twitter users with more ammunition:
Viewers were STILL worried about Judi Dench though:
Others suggested that it could enjoy a new life as a cult classic, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show or The Room:
