Mike Myers gives one of the most possessed and creepy performances I've every seen in a children's film. He was awful as the Cat. Not only was he awful, but his portrayal is nothing like that of Dr Seuss's.
All that was wonderful about Dr. Seuss is gone, replaced by potty humor and subtle innuendos. Not only was the script a complete and utter disaster, but none of the filmmakers were able to utilize the acting talent involved. Mike Myers, Dakota Fanning, Alec Baldwin, Sean Hayes, Spencer Breslin, and Kelly Preston are all wasted here.
The only thing going for "The Cat in the Hat" are the visuals. They managed to capture the wacky and colorful world of Seuss wonderfully. There are many parallels between this Seuss adaptation and the previous one, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Both feature incredibly spastic lead performances, main characters way different from the Seuss version, horrible scripts, but perfect set design. So I have come to a final conclusion. Never, never, never should another Seuss story be made into a feature film. And, oh yeah, talking computer-generated goldfish creep me out.
Acting: D-
Script: F
Art Direction: A-
Cinematography: B
