Thus far, there hasn't been a single (official) live action adaptation of Catwoman that has done justice to the character. Don't get me wrong, Michelle Pfeifer is easily one of my favourites, but the fact that her character got revived by cats and therefore is some kind of supernatural phenomenon, rubs me the wrong way.
In this adaptation, they found it necessary to amp up these elements even further. Patience Phillips (played by Halle Berry) gets revived by Egyptian Mau cats (messengers of Goddess Bast) but gets reborn with special abilities. And if that wasn't enough, her Catwoman personality is vastly more sexual and free (claimed in the film). Mind you, it's one of the elements that remains entertaining, as Halle Berry definitely is super sexy in this film.
Halle Berry had won a Razzie award for being the worst actress. But I don't think that is fair. It's not her fault that her Catwoman is different from the comic book character. For the most part, she does her best with what she is given, and the overall result is not that bad. Besides, she showed she had a good sense of humour by actually picking up the award in person. That takes a lot of guts. And to be fair without her incredible sexiness the film would be infinitely worse. Like I said, her performance is one of the elements that remains to be entertaining. Everything else though is bad. Like real bad. The action, the stunts, the story, the villains, the romance, nothing seems to work. The story is far too simple. And only Patience seems to have some depths to her. The villain is very disappointing. I won't spoil who it is, but it's very obvious from the start. The villain might be despicable. However, is not that proactive nor that evil.
Actually, most events lack dread and urgency. Catwoman for the most part is quite light. Still, the comic book character who has no powers is very skilled, intelligent and should be considered dangerous. In this film though, Catwoman is more naughty and fun than threatening. It completely destroys the sense of suspense and tension that could have made the film compelling. That being said, Halle Berry's sexiness can't be understated, it truly is the one element that made it worthwhile for me.
So yes, there is no denying Catwoman is bad. But it just has enough entertainment for a one time viewing.
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