Catwoman

Release Date: July 23, 2004
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for action violence and some sensuality
Directed by: Pitof
Starring: Halle Berry, Sharon Stone, Benjamin Bratt, Lambert Wilson, Alex Borstein, Michael Massee

Plot:
Patience Philips is a woman who can't seem to stop apologizing for her own existence. She works as a graphic designer for Hedare Beauty, a mammoth cosmetics company on the verge of releasing a revolutionary anti-aging product. When Patience inadvertently happens upon a dark secret her employer is hiding, she finds herself in the middle of a corporate conspiracy. What happens next changes Patience forever. In a mystical twist of fate, she is transformed into a woman with the strength, speed, agility and ultra-keen senses of a cat. With her newfound prowess and feline intuition, Patience becomes Catwoman, a sleek and stealthy creature balancing on the thin line between good and bad. Like any wildcat, she's dangerous, elusive and untamed. Her adventures are complicated by a burgeoning relationship with Tom Lone, a cop who has fallen for Patience but cannot shake his fascination with the mysterious Catwoman, who appears to be responsible for a string of crime sprees plaguing the city.

Review:
When the first superhero film of the year came out on April 2nd which was Hellboy, I didn't recommend the film, but I acknowledged that it was very well directed and offered some entertainment value. Two weeks later, The Punisher was released and it ultimately failed and resulted more as a comedy than as a ruthless killer. The month after that, Van Helsing hit theatres and that film was a complete action fest with no substance. Finally, on June 30, a solid superhero film was released and that was of course, Spiderman 2. With such a good superhero film that was Spiderman 2, the bad superhero film streak begun again with Catwoman.

Catwoman is worse than Spiderman 2 without a doubt, its worse than Hellboy and even The Punisher and Van Helsing are superior to it. By these statements I'm sure the general audience understands that this a film they can avoid and should. This film in comparison to other films looks much like a crumbled mess, much like a nonsense fest with no intelligence.

Many things boggle my mind when the crew of Catwoman comes into mind. Exactly what were they thinking? They did it for the sole purpose that it might have racked in millions in the box-office, or did they actually think they were being loyal to the respected character that is, Catwoman. Not only is the name completely different, but Catwoman's history is remade.

There is no doubt that Halle Berry is a decent looking actress and at times she is a good actress, but in this film her acting is laughable. Berry's acting is overdone and the screenplay embarrasses her to a point of unbearable viewing. The acting was off in Catwoman in ways that was forced and stiff to the point that their is no bending. The screenplay for Catwoman gives hardly anything that will excite fanatics and it hardly gives any connections with what has made the comic book hero Catwoman what she has been made today.

Its more of a recycled mess than a new vision of Catwoman. The film is very campy, much like how The Punisher was, but even Punisher offered some values that were acceptable. Instead of focusing on violence and romance, this film lacked the psychological problems within the characters mind. Sure, we noticed the small instances when we actually received an insight on what Patience is going through, but it is nowhere near the classic history of her.

Its good that I mentioned Patience because that is not Catwoman's name. Once again, this screenplay and this director have taken the very things that has made Catwoman a lovable character and they have tossed it out the window. Selina Kyle is the characters name and obviously that isn't present in this modern crumbled version of Catwoman. Taken into account it is simply a name, but Catwoman didn't come out yesterday, she has been around.

Computer Generated Imagery is supposed to enhance the film not make it the opposite of believable. In this film, we receive a waste of CGI which displeasures the eye on sight. The images when Patience is jumping from buildings or running for that matter looks terrible awful. This CGI might be at par at the bottom of the barrel with some of the most disappointing visuals seen on the screen.

Director Pitof delivered more of a video game than a motion picture here. If you expected a video game version of the character Catwoman than you'd enjoy this mess and if you expected a modern brainless sack of stupidity then you'd like Catwoman. Perhaps, if there is anything to compliment the film Catwoman than that would definitely be the opening titles, wow those were terrific.

Lets get this straight, the entire cast in this film is horrific. The acting is done in a way to be disgusted and in a way to even make yourself think that you can be superior to their acting. There are films that come around every once in a while that are so unbelievably bad that they are fun to watch. Catwoman is unbelievably bad, but its painful to the human body for one to endure its entire running time.

There are usually two types of disaster films. There are the ones that try to be solid, but end up being way too flawed or there are those that were released to insult human beings of where their hard earned money is going. Catwoman is such a film and fanatics of the character and history will be horrified and angry of this film. I give equal opportunities to every film even if the previews don't look promising, however Catwoman is worse than its preview and it simply didn't get anything right.