Yahoo Movies Evan Rachel Wood savages 'Cats' in social media rant as 'maybe the worst thing I have ever seen'
Westworld and Frozen 2 actor Evan Rachel Wood has torn apart Tom Hooper’s movie adaptation of Cats as “maybe the worst thing I have ever seen” in a scathing review on social media.
The star filmed herself reacting to the musical on Instagram, posting a video in which she repeatedly screamed “what the f***?” in disbelief at the bizarre adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber show.
Hooper’s movie is one of the worst-reviewed films in years, attracting just 18% approval on Rotten Tomatoes and receiving an unprecedented “zero stars” score from Daily Telegraph critic Tim Robey.
Wood later elaborated in a since-deleted tweet, in which she wrote that the film was “actually worse than I thought it would be, and I already thought it would be horrible”.
Read more: Cats to be re-released with improved visual effects
The 32-year-old added: “I am actually speechless. Why would you change the choreography? I...am SPEECHLESS.
“It’s not the cast’s fault. It’s...maybe the worst thing I have ever seen. Ever.”
The glittering ensemble includes Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, James Corden, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson, Idris Elba and Ray Winstone, as well as newcomer Francesca Hayward in the lead role.
Wood repeated her defence of the cast on Instagram, saying the film made a mistake by changing the “iconic choreography” of the stage musical and that it was a “let down” for the theatre community.
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The actor admitted that she herself has been in bad films and that “no one is immune” to things going wrong.
She eventually deleted her Twitter review, replacing it with a tweet in which she expressed sympathy for the “innocent” actors and dancers who she does not believe to be at fault for the film.
I stand by my review, but I deleted it because I dont want people to think it was aimed at the actors/dancers. They are probably getting enough negative feedback from the film. Which is a shame. They were so innocent.
— #EvanRachelWould (@evanrachelwood) December 27, 2019
The backlash to Cats has been brewing since the first trailer attracted derision on social media, provoking major changes to the appearance of the central characters, achieved via “digital fur technology”.
Hooper has revealed that he only completed the movie on the morning of its world premiere, with revisions to the CGI taking the project down to the wire.
In addition to the negative reviews, Cats has struggled at the box office, while even star James Corden has confessed he hasn’t seen the movie.
Read more: Even Idris Elba can’t explain the plot of Cats
At least one of the movie’s cast is on board though, with Jason Derulo heaping praise on the film as a “deportation to another dimension”, adding to TMZ that “reviews don’t matter”.
Well, at least he’s happy.
