Catwoman (Widescreen Edition)

When I first learned of the movie Catwoman, I heard that the public reception towards the first trailers - where Halle Berry, who plays the main character, hisses at some barking dogs - were so bad that Warner studios had to release new trailers without this scene that made moviegoers laugh. Now I am not sure if everybody who saw those trailers did laugh, but I am certain that everyone knew that the movie would have a rough ride at its release. Especially when they had to reshoot a whole new ending for the pre-screening reactions were bad. However, the end result was that the public, the critics, and certain actors like Halle Berry herself, admitted the movie was awful.

At the time of the release many critics have been thrown at Pitof, the movie director, and have blamed him for the film's failure. However, I think that movie's main mistake was that it was caught in a Development Hell that went for twelve years, in which the project switched writers so many times that the original story, a sequel to Batman Returns ending that Daniel Waters wrote, became something else. And by that I mean a derivative story where an intimidated graphic designer working for two unpleasant Cosmetic company bosses, drown and become a woman-cat entity who takes the identity of Catwoman while wearing a costume that made her more ridiculous than dangerous.

About the actors, I can say that everyone in the cast gave their best with what they got, but I wonder if they all knew, and the director to an extent, that the movie would flop at its release. Especially with a script that has awful one-liners, funny scenes at moments when it shouldn't be so, and a more or less ridiculous villain in the form of a Cosmetic Company. As such, the movie follows some of the same origins that Michelle Pfeiffer had in Batman Returns, but does it in a more ridiculous way that one wonders what would have happened if the movie had been done with Daniel Waters' original script.

About the director, of which I saw his first feature Vidocq, it was evident that he is more at ease working through visual effects and camera shots since this is where he first started his movie career, such as some of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's works. There are some nice shots that I liked such as the accelerated day workday in the artists' office as we see Halle Berry coworkers leaving while she finishes her artwork late at night. But in general, it was too easy to see when the computerized version of Halle Berry did her stunts and when the real actress was on set. During this movie experience, I had the feeling that the production was rushed and it hurt the movie's effects. Not only that, Pitof has the annoying habit of switching angles every three seconds, and that becomes a headache to watch even on a small TV screen. So imagine the people that had to watch it in a movie theater's giant screen. Maybe that was one of the reasons why they had to cancel all the IMAX release they intended to do in 3D, apart from a probably rushed post-production schedule.

Of the soundtrack, I found it very irritating as it tried to make itself cool, but instead made me laugh for the wrong reasons, at scenes that could have been more dramatic such as Catwoman's rebirth, her final fight with her boss's wife, and her first costume dress-up as she puts herself some makeup and cuts her hair everywhere. And with the way she does it, it's a wonder she didn't cut her ears or gouged her eyes.

In the end, I think this movie experience hurt the character's chance of success in any movie done without Batman's presence, and the only way it could have been saved was if the artists involved had done their movie with a better script.

Shy and downtrodden graphic designer Patience Phillips (Halle Berry) works for a cosmetics empire headed by Laurel Hedare (Sharon Stone). When Patience inadvertently discovers the firm's new 'Beau-line' causes hideous deformities, she is subsequently killed. But an apparently magical Egyptian Mao cat breathes new life into her, endowing Patience with the speed, agility and senses of a feline -- and so Catwoman is born. Since she cannot remember what happened to her, the now confident superhero sets out to discover who killed her and why.

As the title character, Berry is passable playing two sides of the same woman, and the slinky costume she creates shows her figure to great advantage. Stone puts in a good effort as the tough-as-nails CEO, but once again proves she will never be an accomplished thespian. Benjamin Bratt plays a detective and love interest for Patience, but there is clearly no chemistry between them. Lambert Wilson as Stone's husband is aggravating, but MadTV's Alex Borstein is amusing as Berry's best friend.

Directed by French special effects guru Pitof in his first Hollywood film, Catwoman pales in comparison to other comic-book adaptations like Spiderman. The entire movie seems to have been thrown together with little thought. The deficient screenplay has gaping plot holes, with no suspense or wonder, and Catwoman's coy remarks quickly become tiresome. As Patience unravels the clues behind her murder, it would have been more interesting for the audience to assemble them along with her. However, it is interesting to note that this Catwoman is supposedly one in a long line of reborn femme fatales (including Selina Kyle as played by Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns).

Catwoman is a weak movie that fails to offer anything new or stimulating; even the special effects are second-rate. Although Warner is hoping it will become a new lucrative franchise, this kitty doesn't deserve nine lives. Rating: 3 out of 10.

Catwoman is a tricky character to put on the big screen, especially as the lead character. The film-makers were not up to the challenge, I am afraid to say. This seemed more like the Eartha Kitt Catwoman rather than the one currently in DC Comics. This Catwoman is not intelligent, witty, or clever making her seem like a floozy rather than a powerful female heroine, or villain depending on her disposition. Tacky, cheesy, and boring with no real villain to deal with, this film seems to drag on forever, but fortunately it does not. They may take away Halle Berry's Oscar for this terrible performance. The main problem is that they tried to turn Catwoman into Spiderman, except Catwoman is nothing like the webcrawler. They should have made a gritty crime drama, but studio execs wanted something fluffy and easy for the mass public to digest, which translates to crap.