My Review of Catwoman (2004)

 

Written by John Brancato And Michael Ferris And John Rogers

Directed by Pitof

Catwoman: "You saved my life, Midnight, but somebody killed me and I've got to find who and why."

If there was a contender for Worst Live Action DC Movie Ever, then yes, it's very likely that Catwoman would be that very movie to bag the accolade. I do my best to give every movie the benefit of the doubt, but woo boy, this one's an out and out stinker.

Halle Berry might one of the most talented actors in Hollywood and at the height of her career when this movie was a thing. On paper, this should've been a surefire winner but it's more of a classic case of everything that could wrong going wrong in such spectacular style.

First of all, the script is pretty awful with some genuinely horrible dialogue, hackneyed comments on personal freedom and being an outcast and on top, Halle Berry was given the most ridiculous looking of costumes for Catwoman ever commited to live action. Oh and fortunately, it's not a version of Selina Kyle she's playing here.

Instead it's a new character called Patience Phillips, a meek designer who discovered that an upcomin beauty product had dangerous effects and was killed because of it. In a lot of ways, this movie heavily borrowed the Batman Returns origins, right down to a cat named Midnight causing Patience to be reborn and to embrace her cat like side.

The movie attempts to explore a mythology about cat women freeing themselves from the confines of society. You've got Frances Conroy as Ophelia Powers, who's there to fill Patience on all the exposition while the latter also dabbled in a bit of petty thieving before being framed as a murderer.

Getting to the villain side of the movie, Sharon Stone had the fairly thankless role as beauty mogul, Laurel Hedare who's not murdered her husband, George (Lambert Wilson) but had no problem framing Catwoman for the crime. Not to mention the use of Beau-line giving her ridiculous strength as well.

As villains go, Laurel's a poor woman's Max Shreck and the fight scenes between her and Catwoman are sorely lacking. There's supporting roles For the likes of Benjamin Bratt as good guy detective, Tom Lone (also a love interest for Patience) while Alex Bornstein does okay as best friend, Sally. Both are inoffensive but not great roles for the respective actors.

- Before this movie was even a thing, there was talks of Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman getting a spin off. We see an image of her Selina Kyle in this movie.

- Needless to say this film was nominated for and won several Razzies, which Halle Berry even collected, showing that she could have a laugh about the whole thing.

- Standout music: Misteeq's Scandalous.

- Chronology: Present day I'm assuming here. 

Catwoman was an out and out stinker of a movie with everyone (especially Halle Berry) looking like they'd have rather been anywhere else. Coupled with a horrible script, lame fight sequences and terrible effects, it's no wonder this movie was been so reviled. You can laugh at the sheer ineptitude of the whole thing or do something more productive with your time.

Rating: 2 out of 10

My Review of Catwoman: Hunted (2022)

 

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 film, 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 up 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 Black 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 bickering, 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