Catwoman
I just watched this film for the first time today (gotta love that Sky+). I quite enjoyed it - or certain parts of it, at least. I don't think it's nearly as bad as everyone says it is. Halle Berry's Catwoman reminded me a bit of Uma Therman's Poison Ivy: a sexy, silly caricature that was created just for a bit of fun.
Compare, for example, with Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman (for those of you who are so inclined, I'll let you take a moment there. I'll wait)
(finished? Okay.) was just as catlike as Berry's, but that also came with a more layered character, better chemistry with the other characters, and with a better plot going on around her.
Okay, so my points about Catwoman as a film:
1) Halle Berry. She's not a good actress. Although she played the timid Patience fairly well, whenever there was a scene involving being catlike or Catwoman in any way, I felt she played it for laughs. It is a silly concept, at the end of the day, but the characters aren't suppose to know that.
2) The 'Catwomen through history' back story. I actually rather liked this, and had it been framed by a better movie, I could have seen a decent franchise being built from the concept. It felt very much like the Buffy back story (which isn't a bad thing).
3) Patience (Catwoman's alter-ego). Although she was likeable enough, and represented the reason Berry got paid at all for this movie, I felt she was a bit too... middle-class for Catwoman. In a damn good job working for a multi-national corporation? The fact that, had she saved up, she could have easily afforded the 'pretty things' she coveted really took away from her motives for becoming a thief.
4) The motivation for Catwoman in general was a bit... thin. Yes, to avenge her own death, but the way she was killed felt a bit impersonal, so there was no continuous enemy for her to oppose throughout.
5) I quite liked the Catwoman CGI.
6) The love-interest wasn't completely unconvincing, but under-sold.
7) The last fifteen minutes didn't make sense. Catwoman somehow finds her costume (which, presumably, the police have locked up) and fights the main villain who **SPOILERS** is at one point completely invulnerable and then... isn't. Wait, what? **SPOILERS END**
Yeah, not a great film, but it had some nice ingredients that might have worked in a different film.
Compare, for example, with Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman (for those of you who are so inclined, I'll let you take a moment there. I'll wait)
(finished? Okay.) was just as catlike as Berry's, but that also came with a more layered character, better chemistry with the other characters, and with a better plot going on around her.
Okay, so my points about Catwoman as a film:
1) Halle Berry. She's not a good actress. Although she played the timid Patience fairly well, whenever there was a scene involving being catlike or Catwoman in any way, I felt she played it for laughs. It is a silly concept, at the end of the day, but the characters aren't suppose to know that.
2) The 'Catwomen through history' back story. I actually rather liked this, and had it been framed by a better movie, I could have seen a decent franchise being built from the concept. It felt very much like the Buffy back story (which isn't a bad thing).
3) Patience (Catwoman's alter-ego). Although she was likeable enough, and represented the reason Berry got paid at all for this movie, I felt she was a bit too... middle-class for Catwoman. In a damn good job working for a multi-national corporation? The fact that, had she saved up, she could have easily afforded the 'pretty things' she coveted really took away from her motives for becoming a thief.
4) The motivation for Catwoman in general was a bit... thin. Yes, to avenge her own death, but the way she was killed felt a bit impersonal, so there was no continuous enemy for her to oppose throughout.
5) I quite liked the Catwoman CGI.
6) The love-interest wasn't completely unconvincing, but under-sold.
7) The last fifteen minutes didn't make sense. Catwoman somehow finds her costume (which, presumably, the police have locked up) and fights the main villain who **SPOILERS** is at one point completely invulnerable and then... isn't. Wait, what? **SPOILERS END**
Yeah, not a great film, but it had some nice ingredients that might have worked in a different film.