Has finally got the internet and time to sit and look through reviews
Has finally got the internet and time to sit and look through reviews
Member since:28.07.2007
Reviews:23
Members who trust:6
As a child I really enjoyed lying in bed at night and having read to me by my mum, or my dad or whoever I could get my grubby hands on, my favourite book in the whole wide world, The Cat in The Hat. The rhyming was somewhat satisfying and fun, and the suspense was brilliant, it is amazing how it is so possible to love and hate a creature like the cat so much. Am I going to deep? At the end of the day it is just a childrens book with some crazy rhymes in it, but for me it was and always has been just a little bit more than that. It was a story with values and lessons and it was presented in a way that was fun and that made me want to read it again and again....and again again.
Now I am the first to criticize any film that attempts to make a good job of being based on a book. Quite often I roll my eyes at some of the feeble attempts to portray a work of literary genius on a wide screen to save people the hassle of bothering to read. Especially, may I add, young childrens books which are supposed to make them want to engage in books and reading, not in sitting infront of the television all day. I don't want to cause any offence here, it's just my humble opinion and I can understand how films may have the reverse effect to this, perhaps watching the film may inspire a child to pick up the book, but I know how I would have felt at that age.
So why even bother watching the film? Well when I first heard that the film was coming to cinema's I was intregued, I remember thinking to myself, how on earth can they make such a short book into a feature length film? I knew in the back of my mind that they would have to do a really good job to ensure that this film was interesting and funny without straying too far away from the plot.
When I first heard that Mike Myers was to play the part of the cat, I was shocked. How could Austin Powers play such a loveable and somehow deep role, sorry to any Mike Myers fans out there, thought he played a good Powers but just couldn't see it from the start. Although admittedly he had the comedy factor, with his slightly annoying air (as the cat has), this cast further doubts in my mind. Perhaps I'm beginning to sound like Marilyn Manson with the reason he wanted to play Willy Wonka (he has a good and an evil side), but for a childrens character from a rhyming book I felt that the cat was quite a complex
role. While being extremely loveable and fun, the cat is also annoying and at times can be quite bad, refusing to leave the house.
The second factor that put my mind in doubt was that the simplicity of the scenes in the book could not possibly be followed through in the films. Those of you who have read the book will know that the entire book is based in one house, where two children; Sally and her brother (who, in the book is the narrator) spend their time waiting for their mum to come home. I knew very well that this may be the downfall of the film, how is it possible to base a whole film inside one house? It's not really, but then the question becomes how can the film be based in other places and this is where things started to go very wrong in the film. The minute the film started and showed a makebelieve type glorified, and most oddly coloured town, my childhood vision of a normal couple of children, stuck in a normal house, in a normal town was instantly ripped to shreds, thrown on the floor and danced about on. The scenes were wacky, colourful and nothing like the fairly normal setting that I had imagined at all. Although I have to say it would have been difficult to make the film very interesting if it were exactly like the book scene wise.
So, I still haven't got to the point where I see it yet have I? Ok, so a week after it was released at the cinema, I caught wind that my little cousin was going to see it for her birthday. I knew I'd be seeing her shortly after as her birthday falls not long before christmas, aged 6 at the time I was confident that if it was anything like the book she would enjoy it. Seeing her before christmas changed my mind; when asked "did you enjoy the cat in the hat" she simply shook her head and her mum told me "she doesn't like talking about it". She then told me how she'd nearly had to take her out of the cinema because she was terrified of the cat. As she left I laughed to myself a bit, I couldn't imagine at all how the loveable cat could be at all scary. At that point I made a concious decision to go and watch it.
The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So I went to the cinema On that cold, cold, wet day...
Let me say this for The Cat in the Hat; it was an emotional rollercoaster for me, and I was 16 at the time. The minute it started I felt a disappointment surge through me, it wasn't at all how I had expected all bright and, dare I say it; abnormal scenery. The story line had been souped up a bit and I will say this for it; at the beginning it wasn't a total dead loss, it made sense and additional bits that were added in seemed to fit in with the rest of the story. By the end of the film, plot wise I began to be reminded of a child who starts colouring a picture in so neatly and carefully, each part is coloured in a suitable felt tip colour and kept within the lines and an hour later the whole thing is finished with a wax crayon in a minute and a half and it's hard to see what the picture was in the first place. By the end I found myself sitting thinking what on earth is going on. My original disappointment turned into complete and utter confusion by the end of the film, which involves brightly coloured pipes and slides and things that I particularly don't remember from the book. My next major dig is the "cat". Cat? I've seen better looking skunks bottoms and that's being nice. From the minute the cat stepped on the screen I understood why my little cousin had been so scared. I have never seen anything quite like it in my whole life and although I realise that Dr.Seuss's cat didn't look particularly attractive, I am certain that it looked nothing at all like the monstrosity that was intended to look like him. I think the problem here lies not in makeup or even in the graphics of the film, the problem really lies in making Mike Myers look like a cat. It's not even as if Mike Myers is a person who you might say looked a little cat like in the first place. I think that it was always going to be a bit difficult making people look like animals, it might have been better to go with the whole animated film idea. I know that that's not always possible but it just seems such a waste on this book. One thing I will give them is that they have tried at least to stick with the rhyming style, and even though this has meant adding some of their own rhymes to the film, they have managed to keep them with the style. Although again I do have some digs to make at the rhyming, perhaps it's because I imagined it this way. But the cat does not rhyme always in a fun way but in a way that makes it sound like he's just made up a word that rhymes, a sort of dull sarcasm, that I have no doubt is lost on the majority of children, as is much of the adult humour Myers attempts to pull off. None of which, may I add was particularly funny. Additionally the rhyming was not carried on throughout and sort of seems to die off towards the end. I can't really see a way of overcome Now don't get me wrong, I am not the target audience for this film, however neither am I the target audience for Disney, Disney Pixma, Shrek & other animated movies, most of which I have sincerely enjoyed. I, like many others am still a bit of a child at heart and do enjoy many childrens films very much, I was delighted to find that a version of my favourite childhood story was going to be released as a film.
Thing one and thing two, were also a little scary, however I feel that this can be forgiven because they were already a bit scary in the book, and I think that they bared the most resemblence to the characters they were based on originally. Actually they're relatively unremarkable, probably making them the best part of the film. My next little dig is at the storyline regarding the mother, who in the book is this mysterious person who's head is shown bobbing past the window. I quite like it that way, this mysterious mum who has no clue that her children are being entertained by a cat in a hat is a character that appears only at the end of the story to raise one question, should the children tell her what to they had been doing? So I find myself asking, and anyone who has read the book should also find themselves asking why on earth this line; "I have so much respect for you, Joan. Single mother, careerwoman, raising two children on your own, and still finding time to be the best darned real estate agent in town." has any place in the story whatsoever. Ok, so they have built up this whole storyline around the mother, that's not really so bad. She's a real estate agent - that's why the kids are at home alone, it makes sense I suppose. But it gets worse, the mum has a boyfriend called Larry, who is determined to send the narrator of the original book dubbed "Conrad" in the film, to military camp?! I ask myself, where does it say anything about "Conrad" behaving badly in the book, in fact he is determined to keep the house tidy for when his mum comes back, and who on earth is Larry, and how on earth is all of this relevent to the plot of the actual book The Cat in The Hat. If I was Dr.Seuss I'd be turning in my grave.
At this point I would like to share with you a comical vision that entered my head after the film had finished, the film makers sitting in a pub having had too many to drink thowing particularly rediculous ideas at each other. "And the son is naughty", "And the mum is a real estate agent!!", "And she has a boyfriend called.....Larry!", "And he wants to send the son to military camp!!!"...I mean I ask you, how on earth did it get from two children sitting alone in a house bored on a wet day with no mum to look after them, to a single parent, with a boyfriend called Larry who the younger son refuses to accept as his father, who wants to send the son to military camp. I'm sorry to keep going on about it, but it really is just unbelievably rediculous.
I'm sorry that this isn't so much a balanced review, where possible I have attempted to put in the good parts of this film. I hope that you will understand that in my eyes this film has taken the Cat in the Hat book, tortured it, skewered it, ripped it to pieces, set them on fire and danced around it naked, then attempted to replace it with Mike Myers.
I hope that you will please forgive me for the implicated language below, I hope that you will understand that I use such a strong word to fully convey my feelings about the crucifiction of my favourite child hood book and my favourite childhood character who has been replaced by a most horrific vision of Mike Myers dressed up as a cat.
So let me say this for the film It was S***, no I did not like it Not one little bit
Thankyou for reading.
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Family - Director: Sarah Ball - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Neil Morrissey, Noddy Holder, Alison Steadman, Stephen Tompkinson, Chris Evans, Elton John, Bob The Builder
Production Year: 1993 - Family - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Michael Caine, The Muppets, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, David Rudman, Steve Whitmire
I enjoyed your review, would you mind reading through my newest one and commenting constructively if possible please. Id appreciate any hints
hollywoodmum 18.08.2007 16:45
Great review! I'm just getting my kids into the books, they haven't seen the film yet
clownfoot 18.08.2007 16:06
Plenty of detail, but I can't help thinking that it could have all been a little more concise. For the actual review of the film to begin a number of paragraphs in (and it's the film I specifically want to know about) it's not really doing the job for some consumers. Less is more, in some cases. Can't fault the effort though. Alboy
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a wonderful Dr.Seuss treat! The Cat in the Hat who goes by that name is played by Mike Myers of comedy fame! It starts with two kids on a cold cold wet day. Th...
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treat! The Cat in the Hat who goes by the name Is played by Mike Myers of comedy fame! It starts with two kids on a cold, cold, wet day there mum is at work, and they'...
Advantages: The props and furniture etc are bright and chunky making its very unusual and funny to watch! Disadvantages: Sally and Conrad's mum have an admirer who is a disgusting man who wants to send Conrad away.
![Cat In The Hat, The [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78496498.jpg "Cat In The Hat, The [DVD] [2004]")
Aug 18th, 2007
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