Catwoman
Directed by Pitof. (Yes, he only has one name)
Halle Berry prancing around in a skin tight, skimpy leather costume? This film has gotta be good! But sadly no, this is one of the worst super-hero films for quite a while. And the thing is, it could have and should have been so much better.
Catwoman introduces us to the world of Patience Phillips (Halle Berry), a meek artist who hates her job working in advertising for cosmetic company Beauline. After Patience is flushed out of a pipe into the sea and dies, a mystical cat named Midnight resurrects her and imbues her with super-cat powers. Hmm. Anyway, she now has a dual personality — that of the unconfident Patience, and her new emerging alter ego of Catwoman. Catwoman is confident, sexy, independent, powerful and did I mention the leather bikini? She is the opposite of Patience, and she begins trying to find out who killed her. There’s a tepid love story thrown into the mix with detective Tom Lone (Benjamin Bratt), and Sharon Stone is also along for the ride.
The plot line, when present, is rather boring and there are plot holes galore. Some bits are just plain silly and the pacing is all over the place. French director Pitof brings some stylish camera work to the film, however at times it’s annoying, and the fight scene editing is far too ‘slick’. You don’t know what the hell’s happening with no camera shot lasting longer than one second! And there’s not much to say about the acting except they did their best with a bad script. Strangely, the set design was fairly good with a grungy-art feel to it (almost Andy Warholish), and the costumes were hip and interesting (even the non-leather ones). In fact, these two points were the film’s strengths. However, when a film’s only strengths are set and costume design, you know something’s wrong.
Catwoman’s ultimate failing was mainly due to its lack of definition. It tried to be dark and serious, and also soft and romantic, but also camp and sexy. In the process, it was none of these. It would have been better if it had a darker feel to it like the catwoman of Batman Returns a lá Michelle Pfeiffer, or even if it just had more fun.
Having said all of this, Catwoman is still mildly entertaining and Halle Berry is good to watch on screen. But overall, it should have been a whole lot better.
*½ /5
Damo
Director Jean-Christophe Comar, most often credited as Pitof, has coughed up an oozing fur-ball with the unfortunate Halle Berry as the heroine Patience/Catwoman. Supported by Sharon Stone as the evil cosmetic queen Laurel Hedare, this tedious affair stumbles along through bad CGI landscapes and lamentable writing. It’s not even ’bad funny’, the last saving grace of so many otherwise awful films.
Making things worse is the obligatory love-angle, in this case furnished by Tom Lone (Benjamin Bratt), a cop who happens to be on duty when a mystical cat visits the mild-mannered Patience in her apartment, forcing her to appear suicidal. Tom, in all his macho finery and bravado comes to her rescue. The twist, if you still haven’t worked it out, is that he becomes the detective following the apparently criminal acts of Catwoman, who burgles jewels and so forth.
But Patience knows too much about a new anti-aging creme the company she does advertising for is about to release. Only as Catwoman, a stronger, more agile and altogether more feline version of her pallid former self can she right wrongs and “triumph on the side of Good” (the current American paradigm).
How lucky I was not to have paid to see this. If you do however wish to go see it, you may get your kicks out of the whole leather costume and implied associations that pepper — rather clumsily — the film throughout. When Ms Berry tries to be playful with the material, inserting a little sly gesture here or there, the moment doesn’t last long enough: we are back to the droning pace and monotony of Pitof’s direction.
The filmmakers refuse to indulge us with any campy throwbacks to the colourful predecessors of characters: rather, they aim for the sleek and chic black of a new millennium world. Unluckily for everyone involved, and for the audience, Pitof is no Tim Burton.
If you love cats, or Halle Berry, or both, then go see Catwoman out of sheer eye-candy motivations. Otherwise, there’s little on offer in this skimpy, flimsy computer-game on film. Oh, a piece of trivia thanks to imdb.com: “Halle Berry’s stunt- and body-double is the 29-year-old Hawaiian male actor Nito Larioza, an expert in martial arts”… which is always nice.
Felix Staica
