... She is more convincing as dowdy Patience than as kick-ass Catwoman, but that’s almost by default as Patience has more realistic dialogue and relationships than her alter-ego. That being said, this is still a stinker of a performance that could make jam of Berry’s career.
Sharon Stone over-eggs ... Read review
Patience Phillips (Academy Award winner Halle Berry) has spent her entire life trying to ... more
please other people. Working for a huge cosmetics company, she accidentally stumbles across a dark and dangerous secret behind the company's revolutionary, new ant...
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Action/Adventure - Director: Gore Verbinski - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Chow Yun-Fat
Advantages: It could have been longer Disadvantages: Afwul script, acting, effects, editing and everything else
...a decoy duck. The computer-generated Catwoman is equally bad. She has no sense of weight and moves more like a cartoon character than a real person and is obviously not really there.
When I heard that Catwoman was going to be practising the Brazilian martial art of capoeira, I was excited. Fool that I was, I though we’d see some really inventive fight scenes. Of course we get nothing of the sort, what bouts of fisticuffs there are ... ...Halle Berry can save this Catwoman from being a dog’s dinner. And until he learns how to use the tools of his trade, I suggest that Mr Pitof p***** off. If you have the choice between seeing this and having root canal work without anaesthetic then go for the demon dentistry. And I’m only giving this one star because I don’t have the option to give it none.
... more
Patience Phillips is a graphic designer who is bumped off after accidentally learning about the rather nasty side-effects of her employer’s new beauty products. But as the latest in an ancient line of catwomen, she is resurrected to wreak revenge on an evil cosmetics doyenne, whilst wearing a very skimpy leather outfit.
French director Pitof’s background lies in commercials and boy does it show in this shoddy comic book cash-in. He is unable to concentrate on anything for more than thirty seconds and directs like a child suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, who’s been given blue Panda cola and neat tartrazine. He has taken an interesting premise (female superhero/villain against the youth-obsessed cosmetics company) and ruined it with an awful script, abysmal performances, fumbled action sequences, choppy editing that gave me a headache and the worst directing I have ever seen. You can tell it’s going to be a bad film from the terrible cut-and-paste opening credits that feature badly doctored pictures of catwomen throughout the ages and pointless Egyptian-style titles. That the sequence is repeated shot-for-shot later in the film gives you some idea of the lack of imagination that Mr Pitof suffers from. His origins in advertising rear their ugly head at every available opportunity, with him leaving no gimmick unused. Slow-motion, time-lapse photography, swooping cameras and coloured filters are often bundled together in the same scene, giving the impression that Mr P was leaping around behind the monitor, shouting “Look what I can do!” Had he managed to do this whilst directing a sexy, amusing and tightly-plotted superhero movie, we would all be singing his praises. Similarly if he had managed to couple his use of technology with a modicum of restraint (i.e. using it when it was needed instead of swooping into every change of scene like a pigeon on a dive-bombing mission), the film could at least have been a tasty visual treat. Instead it is a confusing mish-mash of poorly-rendered CGI, half-assed fight scenes and sexist imagery that is about as pleasing to watch as a cat taking a dump in your favourite shoes.
It is easy to forget that Halle Berry is an Oscar-winning actress when she chooses to appear in tripe like this. I know she is going through an undoubtedly expensive divorce, but surely there are better ways of earning money to pay for it. As Patience Phillips, Berry is stymied by a bad script, a lack of chemistry with her leading man and the inability to act in a remotely feline way. Having watched this film, I would swear she has never seen a cat, or has been under the impression that they are the same things as dogs. Her post-resuscitation scenes are virtually unwatchable; she’s about as cat-like as an armadillo in a washing machine. She is more convincing as dowdy Patience than as kick-ass Catwoman, but that’s almost by default as Patience has more realistic dialogue and relationships than her alter-ego. That being said, this is still a stinker of a performance that could make jam of Berry’s career.
Sharon Stone over-eggs the gammon as villainess Laurel Hedare. It is a truly abysmal performance that makes a mockery of Stone’s performances in the likes of “Casino”. She seems like she’s only turned up to get the big fat paycheque and couldn’t deliver her lines less convincingly if she was reading them off an autocue. It is an eye-watering example of scenery-chewing gone bad and I’m just grateful that she doesn’t appear for longer. Her final showdown with Berry is laughable, mainly because it’s obvious that Stone didn’t turn up that day and let her dumpy double in a bad wig do the honours instead.
Benjamin Bratt is a fine television actor but here he is pretty average, which means he’s better than most of the other actors on screen. He’s realistic enough (if a little clichéd) as copper Tom Lone, the object of Patience’s affections, but his naturalistic acting is at odds with the OTT performances of his co-stars.
Frances Conroy (from TV’s “Six Feet Under”) turns up as the most unfortunately named character in the film; Ophelia Powers (say it with an Oirish accent and you’ll see what I mean). She may as well be called Mrs Exposition as she only exists to tell Patience and the audience what has happened to her. It’s an odd performance that has the pervasive whiff of embarrassment about it and hopefully a chastened Ms Conroy will go back to doing some real acting now.
Lambert Wilson (the Merovingian from the Matrix films) pops up as Laurel’s faithless husband George. It’s little more than an excuse for Mr Wilson to showcase another impeccable accent (this time it’s British), but if he insists on appearing in such shoddy films, his career isn’t be long for this world.
The only performance worth watching in the entire film is Alex Borstein as Patience’s friend Sally. She’s having a whale of a time as the man-eater, but is sidelined part way through the film, so we don’t see enough of her.
As with most big summer films “Catwoman” has its fair share of special effects. Unfortunately they aren’t that special. The CG cat that brings Patience back to life is hilariously bad. I can’t put my finger on what precisely is wrong with it, but it looks weird. The fact that it breathes smoke and that we take a trip down its gullet doesn’t help its cause. The attempts at Patience’s newly-acquired cat vision and hearing in the same scene are abysmal too, with the seagull Patience sees looking more like a decoy duck. The computer-generated Catwoman is equally bad. She has no sense of weight and moves more like a cartoon character than a real person and is obviously not really there.
When I heard that Catwoman was going to be practising the Brazilian martial art of capoeira, I was excited. Fool that I was, I though we’d see some really inventive fight scenes. Of course we get nothing of the sort, what bouts of fisticuffs there are clumsily choreographed and suffer the scourge of the film – over-editing, making it all too apparent that Halle Berry did not do most of her own stunts. The editing also makes it abundantly clear how limited the actress’ physical prowess is. In one scene she is talking to a friend on the phone whilst moving around her flat in an overly agile manner (hopping onto work surfaces, walking along the back of the sofa and so on), but instead of shooting it as one fluid scene there are so many cuts that it made me doubt whether Berry could walk in a straight line unaided.
Unusually this comic book adaptation is not smothered in a hard rock soundtrack. Instead the powers that be have gone for a more of an R ’n’ B flavour that suits the main character. But the inclusion of one track could have summed up the whole production; Mis-Teeq’s “Scandalous”. There is some nice attention to detail on the score, with plenty of pussycat mews, hisses and purrs having been incorporated. But you’ll be so flabbergasted by the awful performances that you’ll be hard pressed to pay attention to any of the peripheral stuff.
There are a couple of nice touches in the film, such as Berry waking up in all manner of favourite cat sleeping spots, having been out playing the night before and a decent scene involving one-on-one basketball. And despite the fanboy furore over her costume, she fills it out in all the right places and manages a convincing strut in skin-tight leather. And the film is mercifully short at 105 minutes (though it could have stood being shorter, or longer if you wanted to incorporate a plot or some character development). But a couple of details and decent performances (from Bratt and Borstein) aren’t enough to compensate for the sheer awfulness of this debacle. Not even sex kitten Halle Berry can save this Catwoman from being a dog’s dinner. And until he learns how to use the tools of his trade, I suggest that Mr Pitof p***** off. If you have the choice between seeing this and having root canal work without anaesthetic then go for the demon dentistry. And I’m only giving this one star because I don’t have the option to give it none.
Advantages: A good fun easy-going watch Disadvantages: Too much CGI and Benjamin Bratt
Mention the film Catwoman and you'll be met with a groan, followed by the inevitable question "is it as bad as it sounds?" Well, it's not that bad at all... Actually, I think it's a brilliant fun watch and it did not deserve all the bad press it had!
► The Cast ◄
Patience Phillips/Catwoman - Halle Berry. (Gothika, X-Men)
Detective Tom Lone - Benjamin Bratt. (Miss Congeniality, The Woodsman)
George Hedare - Lambert Wilson. (Sahara, ... ...learns that she has become Catwoman - an unafraid, powerful and fierce version of herself. Inexplicably dressed in a sexy black leather outfit, Patience stalks the rooftops in the dead of night, determined to bring her killers to justice and prevent the launch of their dangerous new beauty cream. But Catwoman walks a think line between good and evil, and is easily misrepresented as a villain herself. Soon enough, she has Tom Lone on her tail, the ...
damncoldnightdotnet 26.04.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Catwoman (DVD)
Advantages: Better than Spiderman Disadvantages: none !
...Spiderman 2.
History:
Catwoman first appeared in the Batman comics and was an instant sucess, neither good nor evil Catwoman made the comic more colourful. There have been many Catwomen throught time, Eartha Kitt and Lee Meriweather to name a couple. Halle carrys on the Catwoman tradition with style and this film is nothing short of excellent.
Plot outline: Patience Phillips an ordinary girl living an ordinary life working for as a advertisment ... ...on there ad campain.
Catwoman ( Halle Berry ): Patiences sexy leather clad secret identity, armed with her amazing catlike powers she can do just about anything, scale buildings with ease, perform amazing acrobatics, sneak up on people not that she needs to because in combat she is no walkover she is perfectly capable of knocking a few heads with her amazing reflexes and hand to hand combat skill, also armed with her whip she can take the weapons ...
hackersupr 27.03.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Catwoman (DVD)
Advantages: Fun, Stylish Sexy Disadvantages: Bad Script
...and bring them down. Will Catwoman be able to bring her murder to justice? Acting
Now to my surprise the critics didn’t think that the acting was very good in this movie, but I couldn’t disagree more, Halle Berry was brilliant as was Sharon Stone, as the super sexy vixen, who may or my not get what she deserves.
• Halle Berry is brilliant; I don’t think I have seen her in a movie, where her performance hasn’t absorbed me in. As Patience she portrays ... ...as Catwoman her transformation is remarkable, her posture, the way she speaks, the clothes she wears all change to suit her new interesting and confident personality. Patience does go through a transformation to, it’s not just shallow. When people feel oppressed for that long, they feel that they are to blame, or that they deserve to be mistreated. But when they realize that there is something unique about them and they have something to offer then ...
Josh-Applegate91 25.11.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Catwoman (DVD)
Advantages: It finally ended Disadvantages: I actually watched it all
...her out. Her interactions with catwoman are great examples of this.
This whole element of the cats choose a new girl every generation didnt cut it with me. I dunno if the story behind this is original or based in comics but either way the explanation for catwoman in batman returns was alot better than this nonsense. This whole you are the chosen one element doesnt feel right and its very poorly delivered. And the whole at night she was a different ... ...lines of Batman. But this catwoman is in a different area code. It stopped just outside earths atmosphere and then forgot where it was. Its all over the place at times and i dont know if the director was going for a gothic feel but he didnt achieved it anyhow. Visually this looked like a much lighter version of Daredevil.
The action sequences are insulting to say the least. Lacking an ounce of originality some seem like Daredevil with a whip. And ...
num13er 23.12.2004 (09.01.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Catwoman (DVD)
Advantages: Halle Berry, Action Packed, More fun than spidey 2 Disadvantages: Bad script, Lambert Wilson
Catwoman has been royally bashed, by reviewers, for not being Spiderman with a woman. The reviewers have been so stubborn about this, because after Spider Man 2, super hero movies, were supposed to be serious and were suppose to say something about our times. Catwoman doesn’t, and for that I am very grateful. It’s a fun, exciting romp, with enough action scenes to keep the film going.
Contains Many Spoilers
The Story.
Patience Philips is a timid ... ...is drawn to the two. Catwoman is forced to run away, and the only way that she can do that, is from the stage! As you can imagine, she causes a lot of upset, as she ruins the fantastic play! On the top of the stage, she balances through the set pieces. Where she is met by her Tom, but this time he is full cop mode. The sexual tension between these times is electrifying. She kicks him in the crouch about 40 times. As they roll all over each other ...
JayHall1991 17.10.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Catwoman (DVD)
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Advantages: Animation is stunning, good story Disadvantages: None really, if you like it this is one of the best
, Kevin Conroy has played Batman for years now and who has heard of him?, the films do get some well known names. This time around we have Hector Elizondo, Kyra Sedgwick & David Ogden Stiers. I?m undecided about this tactic as I find a recognisable voice can detract from the story, especially if I am trying to work out who they are! Sedgwick though has the perfect voice for animation, sexy and authoritative, and isn?t recognisable enough that she infringes on the film.
DVD extras:-
Chase Me ? A short cartoon with Batman chasing Catwoman across the city. I like this a lot, silent, very short and very stylish music accompanying it. Class all round!
Behind The Mystery ? A short featurette with the voice actors involved.
Batman P.O.V. ? A discussion feature with the writers, character designer and music writer about how they work ...
Graphic designer, Patience Philips works for a cosmetic company called Hedare Beauty. When she accidentally uncovers her employer's secret regarding their new anti-ageing product, she finds that she is surplus to requirements... From human garbage to feline fatale with extraordinary powers Patience sets out to take revenge on those who didn't appreciate her designer talents.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
WARNER HOME VIDEO; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date
17/01/2005
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
D 031450
Barcode
7321900314503
Languages
Main Language
English
Dubbed Language
German
Subtitle Language
English, German
Hearing Impaired Language
English, German
Technical information
Special Features
Many Faces Of Catwoman Featurette, Additional Scenes, Behind The Scenes, Theatrical Trailer, Web Links
Professional reviews
Review
Halle Berry looks even sexier and more wicked in her skin-tight leather cat suit than Michelle Pfeiffer. Directed with style. (The Sunday Mirror, )
DVD Description
Patience Philips is a shy, reserved young woman who wants to be an artist but instead is a designer for an advertising company. She is mousy and lacking in self-esteem even when she gets her big break to work on the launch of a major beauty product for her mean-spirited, ruthless boss. But a series of events initiated by a mysterious cat results in her discovering a terrifying secret that leads to her murder. That same cat breathes new life into her, creating a strong, brave woman within her that wrestles with her previous self for control of her mind and body--a body that can now do amazing things. Academy Award winner Halle Berry is captivating as Patience, a female superhero for the 21st century. She is fearless as she seeks revenge on the people who killed her, and she attempts to save the public from the release of a dangerous product. As the Catwoman side of her battles George Hedare (Lambert Wilson) and his wife, Laurel (Sharon Stone), who he has decided is now too old to be the face of his company, the Patience side of her gets involved with hot cop Tom Lone (Benjamin Bratt), who is caught in the middle of her two-sided personality. First-time director Pitof keeps things moving at a fast pace, with quick cuts, sweeping camerawork, and pounding music. Alex Borstein provides comic relief as Patience's best friend, and SIX FEET UNDER's Frances Conroy plays a cat lady who knows the secret history of felines through the ages.
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