Written by Greg Weisman
Directed by Shinsuke Terasawa
Catwoman: "You know I appreciate the classics but I like to move with the times."
I have to admit that when I saw the first trailer for this animated, my expectations were not exceptionally high for this. Catwoman's a fan favourite character with many iterations out there. In terms of animation, she's not been always as utilised well so I was cautious about what this solo/team p movie would bring. To my pleasant surprise, a lot in the best way.
Donning a classic look, Catwoman (Elizabeth Gillies) decided to crash a party hosted by Barbara Minerva (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) in order to steal the cat's eye emerald. By doing this, Selina quickly put a target on her back, courtesy of Leviathan as both Blavk Mask (Jonathan Banks) and Tobias Whale (Keith David) gave chase, only for Catwoman to soon encounter, Batwoman (Stephanie Beatriz) and soon the pair of them are forced to work together.
Namely because Julia Pennyworth (Lauren Cohen) and King Faraday (Jonathan Frakes) make Catwoman an offer she can't refuse and as the movie developed, it also turned out that Catwoman had her own personal agenda for targeting Barbara Minerva. It's funny how things tend to line up, isn't it?
Having both Catwoman and Batwoman form an unlikely pair (minus the "faux" sexual tension) along with the former's cat, Isis definitely made for an entertaining movie. The bucketing, slight flirting and competitiveness along with the two working together to take out both Cheshire (Kelly Hu) and Nosferata (Zehra Fazal) was definitely a highlight of this particular feature.
Of course the big highlight was Selina's motives for going after Leviathan and the set up of a future confrontation with Talia Al Ghul (Zahra Fazal) as well as a genuinely engaging fight between Catwoman and Minerva in her true form as the Cheetah. That along with a Solomon Grundy (Steve Blum) and this movie definitely doesn't lack in the action sequences.
As for Selina, with this being her movie, it made sense that everything would end up going her way, even if it took a while for her plans to come to fruition. Then again, Selina did prove herself to be the expert at playing both the long game and those who underestimated her throughout. She might be a jewel thief but she's also got a bigger cause as well.
- The anime style worked better here than I expected it to and aside from the costume party, I'm actually impressed this movie didn't have a Batman appearance.
- There was brief arc back in 2015, which explored Catwoman's bisexuality, so I guess the flirting with Batwoman might have been an allusion to that.
- The anime Lupin III was an influence for this, according to producers.
- Location wise we had Spain, Shanghai, Paris and the English Channel.
Catwoman: Hunted turned out to be a delightfully entertaining romp and the sort of story that would be perfect as a live action vehicle for the lovable cat burglar. Elizabeth Gillies did a terrific job as Catwoman and I enjoyed the character's hi-jinks throughout.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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