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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Ever fed your cat food and
have her try to bury it? That's probably what
should have happened to this wannabe blockbuster.
I'm sure in theory it sounded good. The Catwoman
character has fan appeal (as evidence from Batman
Returns and the comic books) but this film misses
litter box so badly time and again it's clear that
"Catwoman" should have been put down before it
ever reached theaters. It reminds me of the
disastrous "The Exorcist II," causing laughter in
all the wrong places and a sense that this project
has been left out too long and gone bad.
Halle Berry plays shy Patience Phillips a designer
for a cosmetics company. When she learns a dark
trade secret, her boss Laurel Hedare (Sharon
Stone) has her killed. Revived by the spirit of a
supernatural cat, Patience Phillips comes back
with the agility of a cat and almost as many
lives. Pursued by police detective Tom Lone
(Benjamin Bratt) when it appears Catwoman is
behind a series of crimes, Patience finds her new
alter ego complicating her personal life when she
falls for the detective.
I have to give Warner credit: they've spared no
expense at making sure this bomb looks good on
DVD. With nice color reproduction, exceptionally
good clarity and image quality, Catwoman does
justice to one-name-only director Pitof's
production design skills. Unfortunately, it's
wasted on this mess of a movie. The 5.1 Dolby
Digital Surround mix makes very good use of
surround speakers matching the inventive action on
screen.
The film has been extended with five additional
scenes (which is akin to adding additional lives
to this awful film -- completely inane and
unnecessary) and features two featurettes. The
"Many Faces of Catwoman" features interviews with
the women who have played the role over the years,
from the Batman TV series (which still isn't
available on DVD darn it) through to "Batman
Returns": Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt (who took over
the role from Newmar on the series), Lee
Merriweather (former Miss USA and alum of the
"Barnaby Jones" TV series) and Michelle Pfieffer,
all reflect on one of the most fascinating roles
and occasionally uncomfortable costumes they had
to wear. The "Behind-the-Scenes Tour" is exactly
that: it consists of a peek behind the curtain
during production of the film, including some
rehearsal footage and comments from cast and crew.
A definite entry in the next Razzie's book (and
perhaps winner as one of the worst films of all
time, an honor it would share with that other
Warner film, "The Exorcist II: The Heretic," John
Boormann's fascinating car wreck of a movie),
"Catwoman" should have been put out with the old
kitty litter. It's a disaster from start to finish
although it does have moments of camp charm all
its own it still qualifies as one of the worst
films to come out last year. Would make a great
double feature with the perfectly awful " Elektra"
spin-off from "Daredevil." |
