The Cat in the Hat review – Bill Hader brings plenty but this animated rework is a mess

The SNL alum has an appealing energy and this is an improvement on the 2003 travesty but it’s also far too long and strangely corporate

Over a long enough timeline, perhaps every living alumnus of Saturday Night Live will play the Cat in the Hat. Mike Myers kicked off this unexpected tradition by embodying the furry, anarchic Dr Seuss character for a notoriously, almost defiantly ghastly 2003 live-action treatment. After doing us all the service of killing flesh-and-blood Seuss movies for good, Myers was later followed by a more charming Martin Short (via voiceover on a cute PBS/CBC animated series) and now Bill Hader, stepping into the role for a big-budget animated reboot from the oft-flailing animation division of Warner Bros.