I put Catwoman in the "Superhero films not based on comics" area because this Catwoman is completely different than anything that has been done in the comics. Which is why, I guess, Catwoman is not in Gotham City, and Batman is nowhere to be found. In this version of Catwoman, Halle Berry plays Patience Phillips, a meek artist-wannabe who ends up designing ads for a cosmetics company. Of course, the company holds a deadly secret that gets Patience killed. And, of course, she is killed by drowning in chemical waste, and ends up getting amazing cat powers in a process I'm still not sure I understand. (These aren't really spoilers, as you find out she dies in the first two minutes of Miss Berry's narration at the beginning of the film.)

Catwoman is at times cheesey, at times hokey, and at times amateurish. The thing I find really neat about "cat powers" is that they include playing basketball like you're one of the Harlem Globetrotters, riding a motorcycle like you're a Hell's Angel, cracking a whip like Indiana Jones, and fighting like Bruce Lee. The makers of the film even try to force the catburglar thing on her at one point, which really doesn't fit; and the way she scampers around makes her look more like a squirrel than a cat. But, even with it's flaws, I guess I wasn't completely bored, and there was some entertainment value. It's the kind of movie you expect to see with a lower budget Tank Girl or Barb Wire, but ultimately disappoining in a big budget WB film.

			See it on DVD if you're curious about this particular incarnation of Catwoman, are waiting on DC to put out a decent comic film, or hey, if you just like Halle Berry. Don't see it if you'd rather pop in that Barb Wire DVD one more time.

© 2004 Jim Manchester