Halle Berry stars as the heroine who wears spiky stiletto heels along with a skimpy, black leather costume – Catwoman. At first that might seem like a bad idea, incredibly problematic for someone who prowls around town climbing up and down buildings and jumping across rooftops. However, her stilettos aren’t just any stilettos – they make her move in a more sensually feline way – I wonder who was the mastermind behind that?
Directed by the French visual effects man, Pitof, creator of Alien: Resurrection, Catwoman opens with a long credit roll, features endless images of Ancient Egypt and a mysterious looking cat. Then, we meet Patience Phillips (Halle Berry), a frumpy, would-be artist who is stuck working as a designer for a cosmetic company run by the plastic looking Laurel (Sharon Stone) and George Hedare (Lambert Wilson). While delivering her latest drawings to a spooky warehouse late at night (of course), she stumbles across the company’s evil plan to distribute an anti-ageing cream with horrifying side effects. Discovered, she is chased away, shot and left for dead. However, a bunch of cats show up and an ‘Egyptian’ cat leans forward as though he is going to give her mouth to mouth resuscitation. She is then brought back to life and left with new and astounding cat powers, allowing her to wreak revenge on her former boss.
I have never been a fan of super hero films. Catwoman’s plot and dialogue are so silly that it is completely over the top. I mean, how can you take a film seriously when our heroine, Patience, is walking down the street in a perfectly normal fashion one minute and then the next is hissing bitchily at dogs? And certain plot details just don’t add up. For instance, after being shot at, Patience doesn’t say anything to anyone – just goes back to work for the company that tried to kill her. Being a team player is one thing, but this is really too much. I wonder who thought it would be a good idea to hire three men (John Broncato, Michael Ferris and John Rogers) to write a screenplay about a woman finding herself?
