The Wasteland: Movie Reviews
Catwoman
Starring: Halle Berry, Sharon Stone, Benjamin Bratt
Directed by: Pitof (Alien Resurrection)
Rating: PG-13
I'll start off by saying I was quite impressed by this movie. Not only in how it rang true to many elements of the original Batman comic, but also how it managed to insert its own unique flavour of adventure into the mix.
Halle Berry stars as Patience Phillips, a downtrodden artist who works for a cosmetics company. After her friend and co-worker, Sally, is hospitalized, Patience is empowered with cat-like agility and senses and a newfound sense of freedom as she pursues its cause.
Of course, Cosmetics tycoon Laurel Hedare is behind it all, having produced a skin cream that has drastic side-effects.
While the plot is fairly simple, I found the evil scheme fairly witty, and the actors manage to pull together and salvage what may have been a bad movie.
Alex Borstein plays a hilarious supporting role as Sally, whose flirts with the doctor are surpassed only by the comedic "man sandwich" line from the office's token homosexual.
Halle Berry's love interest in this movie is an officer by the name of Tom Lone (played by Bratt) who has foreshadowing written all over his role. Will he become the next Batman? Maybe in the sequel.
Traditionally, in the Batman comics--which originated early in the seventies--Catwoman was the villain and not the hero. But otherwise the adaptation of the character was still fairly accurate.
I did my research on this one. Catwoman's first appearance in the comic had her realizing her powers through a mysterious older woman, which took her under her wing, offering guidance and insight into the magic of Egyptian cats. While the movie doesn't portray it exactly the same way, it's was reproduced fairly well.
The new twist is her costume, which features a sleeker sexier Catwoman. Alongside her trademark bull whip, Catwoman now also sports metal-clawed gloves. A twist I definitely would never have thought of.
So all in all, it was worth the see. It may have been a tad lame hearing the old line "Purrrrrfect" again, but all in all, Catwoman was a crowd-pleaser which is sure to draw the attention of comic fans and indeed action/fantasy lovers everywhere.
8/10
From Vancouver, Washington, J. Crendow
has been an avid movie-goer and gamer
for twenty-five years, and has been
reviewing for more than six. He and
his wife Carolyn both enjoy ice cream
and improvisational jazz.
E-mail J. Crendow
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