Susan Granger's review of "Catwoman" (Warner Bros.)
When there's a big-budget, major studio cat-astrophe like this, it's
often interesting to analyze what happened. Back in 1992, the Catwoman
movie
concept was conceived after Michelle Pfeiffer embodied the character in
"Batman
Returns." When Pfeiffer bowed out of a reprise, Halle Berry, who'd just
won an
Oscar for "Monster's Ball," pounced. Not only did she bank $12.5 million
for
the title role, she also became the first African-American actress to
propel an
expensive, effects-laden action film. "This movie presented to me a whole
new
challenge, something I haven't done. It allowed me an opportunity to
prove...a
woman of color can open one of these summer movies," she explained.
Previously,
Berry had scored big as Jinx, a sexy, supporting player to Pierce
Brosnan's
James Bond in "Die Another Day."
In "Catwoman," Berry is Patience Phillips, a graphics designer at a
cosmetics firm who finds out that her boss (Lambert Wilson) and his
ex-model
wife (Sharon Stone) ready to market new, anti-aging product, "Beau-Line,"
that
is toxic and addictive. This discovery leads to her drowning death, but
she's
resurrected by a cat and admired by an adoring cop (Benjamin Bratt). Now
imbued
with wall-scaling powers and a dominatrix outfit, Patience/Catwoman wreaks
revenge.
Episodically written by John Brancato, Michael Ferris and John
Rogers,
based on Bob Kane's characters, it's directed in quick-cut MTV-style by a
Frenchman named Pitof. What unfolds is dull feline drivel, so deadly
serious in
tone that it can't even be enjoyed as camp. It's cliché'd, boring and a
dreadful embarrassment. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Catwoman"
descends to a dull, preposterous, outrageous 1. If a cat has nine lives,
save
us from the sequels.
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X-RAMR-ID: 38326
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1300804
X-RT-TitleID: 1134224
X-RT-SourceID: 742
X-RT-AuthorID: 1274
X-RT-RatingText: 1/10
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