Halle Berry is Catwoman in her latest movie incarnation and she's just
purrfect as the Felonious Feline Fatale. Her character, Patience Phillips, is a
shy, sensitive, awkward graphic artist for a multimillion dollar
cosmetics company who stumbles upon her employers'
dark secret, is murdered and left for dead. A magical Mau, furry agent of the
Cat Goddess Bast, gifts her with feline agility, strength, speed, graceful sensuality and a whole lot of
cattitude;
Patience is reborn as Catwoman.
Add a sexy leather outfit complete with
whip and she's off to take revenge on her evil ex-bosses, icily played by Sharon Stone and Hembert Wilson. It's clever, darkly beautiful and
psychologically interesting (love the woman-to-cat transformation and very feline split personality)
And it's definitely a LOT of fun!
Benjamin Bratt as a detective is the love interest for Berry's Catwoman,
who is both villainess and heroine.
"She's not Superman," Berry says. "She's not trying to save the world.
Catwoman is out to save herself." But she does just happen save a bit of the world in the process ;-)
As hard as it is for me to believe, all the critics didn't like Catwoman and some of
them have been downright nasty to the movie and to Halle :=( OK, everybody can't like everything but
I do think a lot of the critics just didn't get it.
Maybe they were expecting it to be the continued adventures of Selina Kyle. It's not:
different name,
different premise and totally different interpretation of what it might be like to become a Catwoman.
Some of the critics are saying that Halle's performance is too "over the top" after she is transformed.
Maybe for a
100% human lady but hey this is CATwoman, brought back to life by a magical Mau on an errand from Bast the Cat Goddess!
Says Halle: "I was very committed to bringing this character to life and being as catlike as I
could....I spent a lot of time watching my own cat listening to how he purrs and plays and
walks and when he gets angry. And there's a sound that he makes that I've tried to use, too."
She also watched videotapes of lions and tigers and
worked with animal co-ordinator Boone Narr, lead trainer Mark Harden, their staff.
and the 43 cats that appear in the movie.
(99% of the cats you see in the movie are real, not computer generated!)
Choreographer Anne Fletcher also helped Halle learn how to move like a cat.
Well, it worked... as Catwoman, Halle's facial expressions, voice and moves, especially when
toying with her "prey", become verrrry
feline which is a good part of the point of the movie. Another point is that Catwoman is
both a tribute to female power and independence and also explores the darker side of power in both
men and women and methinks some of the critics are a tad uncomfortable with both of these things.
Whatever. Forget the critics. Go see this movie with an open mind and you'll probably enjoy it.
And you might even love it as much as I did :-)
P.S. Benjamin Bratt is a real sweetie and also seriously hot;
Sharon Stone is a totally cold hearted villian but she has her reasons,along with a wicked sense of humor.
The Egyptian-inspired cats-and-catwomen through history titles
are da bomb and the soundtrack featuring
Mis-Teeq's Scandalous is ubercool!
 Catwoman: 2005 Wall Calendar |
