What do you get when you take a complex character who has been played and portrayed in numerous different ways by tons of different people, strip them of their entire back-story, and essentially piss on its built-in fan base in every way imaginable? Not DC Comic’s “”Catwoman,”” not the Batman 60s “”Catwoman,”” and for god’s sake, certainly not Tim Burton’s “”Catwoman.”” What you get is Halle Berry’s “”Catwoman.””
Halle Berry slinks, struts, meows and purrs her way through this film as though her entire career is riding on its success or failure. And who knows, maybe it does. At the beginning of the film, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Lord knows I was prepared to hate this film with a fiery passion that I haven’t had since the days of “”Fight Club”” or “”Magnolia”” or “”A.I.”” The movie opens with a long credit roll that seemed to last forever. The opening features old pictures of Ancient Egypt and a mysterious cat. The photos are then followed by a series of photos costumed women fighting crime. This entire credit sequence seems to last at least five minutes. And nothing sucks me into a film like a long credit reel. Do the producers, writers, editors, and stars of this film really want to take credit for it?At the start of the film, the entire enterprise takes itself way too seriously, we meet Patience Phillips (Halle Berry) a frumpy (as if we believe Halle is frumpy!) would be artist who is stuck working at a designer for cosmetic company run by the plastic looking Laurel Hedare (Sharon Stone) and her husband George Hedare (Lambert Wilson). When she stumbles upon some evil goings on at the company, she is then murdered. A bunch of cats show up and revive her.The film’s turns into being fun camp the minute the mysterious cat from the pictures (at the beginning) leans in as though he is going to give her mouth to mouth resuscitation. The camera does a slow pan into the cat’s mouth as he bares his teeth. The very next scene we get to see Halle slinking around her apartment like a cat. We know the Director gave up trying to be serious and plays the material for the bad, fun camp that it is the minute Halle opens eight cans of Tuna and starts eating it like she’s a cat. The plot and dialog are so silly that it gets over the top. I mean really, there is actually a scene where Patience is walking down the street and starts hissing at dogs. How can you possibly take this film seriously after that?Director Pitof does an adequate job of bringing this film to life. The action sequences are competent, and he doesn’t over direct them: “”The Matrix”” bullet time shots, and frenetic camera work, which have become this summer’s action movie staples, are noticeably and blessedly absent from this film. Pitof seems to be more comfortable with the film’s romantic subplot involving Patience and her police detective boyfriend Tom Lone (Benjamin Bratt who steals this film). The acting is ok, not great, not overly bad – ok, Sharon Stone and Lambert Wilson’s performances are so bad they deserve to be nominated for “”Razzies.”” If you can shut your mind off, and just go along for the ride. “”Catwoman,”” is a lot of fun, there are so many unintentional and intentional funny moments in this film that you can’t help but to get swept up in the moment. If you could appreciate the over the top badness that was “”Van Helsing”” and “”The Punisher,”” then you’ll enjoy this. “”Catwoman”” is worth seeing for its camp value and is better than it has any right to be. Final Grade B-EM Review by Michelle AlexandriaOriginally Posted July 23