Catwoman
Tags: good versus evil, paranormal, revenge, murder

Plot synopsis:
The figure of a limp woman with long curly hair is seen drifting underwater, and a voiceover questions the end of a life that never truly existed. This life ended in murder, the victim herself unsure of who her killer was and why she was killed. Her death was only metaphorical, for in her place a new life begins.The story starts with Patience Phillips (Halle Berry), a timid woman who can't stand up for herself. She lets people walk all over her, and has wasted her artistic talent working for a cosmetic company as a graphic designer. George Hedare (Lambert Wilson) runs the company with his supermodel wife, Laurel (Sharon Stone). Laurel knows that Patience is capable, but seems mostly indifferent, only using her in own power struggles with her husband. George, an abusive boss in general, finds plenty of opportunity to mock Laurel.The company is about to launch BeauLine, a new anti-aging product that Laurel had secretly been using for years. The advertisement is designed by Patience but George, unsatisfied, demands that she redesigns it. Upset and frustrated, Patience returns home and sees a cat looking up at her. Shaking her head, she goes to sleep, but her loud neighbours keeps her up and she is unable to rest. Next morning, the cat is on her window ledge. When she approaches, she realizes the cat has climbed up to a higher ledge and was potentially stuck. To try and reach the cat, Patience climbs out her window ledge, and a passing detective mistakens her intentions as suicidal. He ends up rushing into her apartment and pulling her back in. Patience would have thanked him but realizes she is late for work, in her hurry to leave she drops her wallet. The detective, Tom Lone (Benjamin Bratt), tracks her down to her workplace and returns it to her, and both agree to a coffee date.Later that night, Patience goes to the production factory to deliver her artwork, and she accidentally hears that the BeauLine has unsafe health problems. Stunned, she backs into several tools, revealling her presence. Two men chase her into a large waste water pipe, where she is trapped, and they flush her into the river, where she drowns. The cat that has been appearing in front of Patience appears by her body and gathers several other cats around her.Patience eventually drags herself unsteadily up and returns home. Her movements are off and uncontrollable, and she ends up breaking the glass through her own window. When her neighbours start their usual loud party again, she yells at them to quiet but they again ignore her. The old Patience would have backed down, but now she strodes down, knocks on their door, and promptly beats up the host and destroys the music equipment in front of many shocked guests. When she wakes up the next morning, she almost dismisses everything as a dream until she sees the broken glass. Unfortunately, her memories of what happened before that are blank, and so she cluelessly returns back to work.At work, George loudly yells at Patience in front of all her coworkers for not handling in her project. She tunes him out, which angers him further, and when she apologizes he only continues. Patience than apologizes for wasting her time in the company, and is fired, but as soon as George leaves her colleagues swarm around her in congratulations. Patience packs up her things and while she and her friends are walking home, two dogs instantly begin barking at her and she instinctively hisses at them. When questioned, she explains her behaviour as allergies. When they pass by a jewelry store, Patience's attention is caught by a beautiful collar-like necklace, but is reminded of her new unemployed status and leaves longingly. Once home, she sees the same cat again, and finally close enough she was able to find the address on the cat's owner.The cat belonged to an older woman named Ophelia, a former professor who lived alone in a house full of cats.
She explains that the cat constantly appearing in front of Patience is named Midnight, a rare Egyptian Mau who likely has been watching Patience for several days, knowing that she was about to die. The cat has special powers that are given only to a few deserving women after they die. Hence after Patience died, she is reborn with new catlike powers. History will tell of women with the senses and agility of a cat, and Patience has now joined their ranks. Patience and Catwoman are two completely different people, yet they are one.Now on the prowl, Patience digs up a leather outfit she once received as a gift but never wore, and donned on the cat mask Ophelia gives her. Catwoman finds the man who had tried to shoot before drowning Patience, but after a fight she learns he had no idea who the girl he killed even was or exactly why he had been suddenly called in to eliminate her. He only knows it was something to do with the company, perhaps some sort of corporate scandal, and that she should probably check with the people at the top. Catwoman agrees and goes to corporate headquarters, only to find another man she had seen on the night of her death lying dead on the floor. A passing janitor walks into the scene and mistakens Catwoman as the man's murderer, she is forced to flee when the police are summoned.Now a wanted criminal to the public, Catwoman sneaks into George's private residence, where she briefly gets into a fight with Laurel. Catwoman demands to know where George is, telling Laurel about the terrible effects of BeauLine. Laurel gives Catwoman a hotel address as well as a cell phone so the two of them could keep in contact. Catwoman finds George with Drina, another upcoming model, in a private balcony watching a dance. Unfortunately, a security officer had already spotted Catwoman and called the police. When Drina briefly leaves and Catwoman tries to interrogate an uncooperative and still abusive George, she is cut short by the police suddenly appearing. Left with no choice, she jumps off the balcony and onto the stage before briefly dropping down below. The audience mistakens her brief appearance as part of the show and loudly applaud while below, Catwoman finds Tom with a gun. The two of them fight while she flirts and even kisses him before reinforcements arrive and Catwoman is again forced to flee.On their date, Tom tells Patience about his encounter with Catwoman. She doesn't seem jealous, and the two continue having a great time until Tom finds a diamond-studded claw in Patience's home, something he instantly recognizes as part of Catwoman. He takes a cup Patience had drank from to the police lab, where analysis prove Patience and Catwoman as the same person. Meanwhile, Patience wakes up alone in the bed, and receives a call from Laurel who says she found evidence of her husband's crimes. Catwoman goes to the Hedare residence only to fall for a trap - George had been clawed at and fatally shot, and Laurel tosses the gun into Catwoman's hands so that the police would identify her as the killer.Her agility and Laurel's exercise outfit helps Patience escape the police and allows her to return home, but Tom is waiting for her. He knows if she wanted to she could quickly disarm him, but she doesn't and lets him arrest her and bring her into interrogation. Patience pleads her case and tries to explain, but as Tom pointed out all the evidence pointed to Catwoman as the killer. Patience realizes that Tom probably still saw her as the girl from his first impression - a crazy woman with suicidal or even hallucinatory tendencies. In tears, she allows him to lock her in the detention cell, but it only takes the appearance of Midnight for her to successfully escape. She ends up going to BeauLine's production warehouse and disabling all the trucks so that the merchandise could not be delievered.Tom goes to the BeauLine press conference where Laurel is heavily promoting the producting and giving out free samples. He privately takes her aside and indicates that he had evidence about her crimes, and when she unintentionally confesses he is unprepared for her murderous reaction. Luckily Catwoman arrives in time, but Tom is already injured and unable to run quickly out the building. Instead they are forced to stay behind to fight Laurel and her lackeys. Despite his injured state Tom is able to take care of himself, and Catwoman fights her way to Laurel for a final confrontation. To her dismay, it turns out that Laurel is unable to feel pain, largely due to the continuous use of BeauLine. Nevertheless, Catwoman manages to damage skin and eventually causes Laurel to plunge out the window. For the first time, Catwoman realizes she may have killed someone.Catwoman's exploits end up on the news, and the Hedra company is shut down, but partially because of the ambigous nature of Catwoman and partially out of guilt Patience is unable to relax. She breaks up with Tom and prepares to live her own life, free and untamed, the Catwoman of her generation.

Review: And that was just the first half hour, at which point, for the sake of my brain and stopping it melting with the sheer tedium, I walked out of the cinema.If you're genuinely sad enough to believe that paying good money to see Halle Berry in a PVC suit is good enough reason to spend time gawking at this trash, then fine.
Though a terrible basketball player that stunt doubles or special effects can't hide, her transformation into Catwoman is one of the best personality changes besides The Fly. The action is good, Sharon Stone's script is a little weak though it's good to see her back.
Note to Halle Berry: Letting Billy Bob Thornton ream you endlessly on camera is certainly degrading, but it was also a good career move--and you won an Oscar; feverishly eating catnip and licking people's faces on camera, however, is not a good career move--and you'll probably win a Razzie this time.
Oh yeah, as for the supernatural explanation for Patience Phillips/Catwoman's superhero status--she gets CPR from an immortal Egyptian cat--I am not kidding.And then there is Benjamin Bratt, who happens to be a pretty solid actor, but could have very likely damaged a good career.
There is a scene in this movie--probably the worst, and that's no small achievement--that is reminiscent of that ridiculous scene in Daredevil where Jennifer Garner/Elektra and Ben Affleck/blind superhero have a Kung Fu fight at a playground in broad daylight; in this movie it's Halle Berry and Ben Bratt playing one-on-one hoops and her doing Catwoman flips and yet no one appears to be too amazed by this, much less pants-soiling surprised, and on top of that it has a sort of VH1/Color Me Bad/early New Edition video feel to it.
No matter what the crime is--burglary, murder, domestic disturbance, interrupted ballet performance--he's always there.As for the rest of the cast, that annoying woman from Mad TV--I know that's not specific enough; I mean the most annoying one who plays what I guess is supposed to be some bizarre Asian lady--well, she plays Catwoman's annoying and sort of slutty co-worker comic relief since Rosie O'Donnell was apparently unavailable.And then we come to Sharon Stone.
Of course Sharon has often lamented the lack of good roles for older women in Hollywood, and she's absolutely right about that, but this is not the best way to lodge a complaint, and plus that's always been a little peculiar coming from an actress whose greatest cinematic achievement is the conspicuous exposure of her labia.Briefly back to this Pitof character--I thought that pretentious one-named idiot who did the Charlie's Angels movies--McG, I believe--was bad enough, but this guy is even more shameless and obviously lacking in talent.
This movie deserves every Razzie it receives, and while some reviewers may say it's not really that bad, remember, it took a lot of money to make this godawful thing, and if people don't speak out about how dreadful it really is, they just might make Catwoman 2.
I've seen about 45 minutes of footage and it really looks like something someone did as a flash film and they thought "Hmm...this would look cool on film!!"I think it's total and utter betrayal of the character's roots is bad enough, but to compound that by ripping off elements from other comic-based action films (The Crow, Spider-Man 1 & 2, etc.) is just adding more nails to this already sealed coffin.
The only people who enjoyed this film are pre-pubescent guys who will never know the touch of a woman without shucking out a few hundred bucks for it.This film is a disgrace to comics, movies, and mankind in general, and any woman who thinks this film is "empowering" is probably some young promiscuous woman will will be called "MAMA" before she hit age 17.Beware this movie, and avoid it like the freaking' plague..
It is the most unmitigated piece of sh*t I have ever seen, worse still than Batman and Robin.The plot is like an episode of Baywatch, Halle Berry is completely unsexy and the effects are pure rubbish.
OK, it wasn't the best film ever, and yeah, there have been better Catwomen (namely, Julie Newmar and Michelle Pfeiffer), but when you sit and watch it with no expectations, it's actually kind of cool.From a superhero point of view it's a little one-sided- there aren't any real villains, at least, none who pose a real threat.
Which is a shame, because I didn't think the film was that bad.They'd have been better off doing a spin-off from the Batman flicks with Michelle P (or a lookalike) as Catwoman, so the back story wouldn't be necessary.Don't hate me for loving Catwoman.
I also had neighbors who night after night played loud music or television until three or four a.m., while I first tried to block out the sound in any way that I could, then asked politely for them to turn the music down, and so on, until I finally called the cops on them so I could get some sleep.Not that I need to identify with a character to like a film, but that made this one have extra resonance with me in the beginning.
So departures from previous portrayals of Selina Kyle aren't relevant, even if we believed that filmmakers were obligated in some way to previous depictions of the "same" fictional characters (which I don't believe, not being a purist).Catwoman is worth a (second) chance if you can leave some of your preconceptions at the door and if you're prepared to think a bit about a comic book film..
I, however, found it to be a fun ride, full of good, schlocky moments, some nice action and boasting a confident visual style and a performance from Halle Berry which falls just the right side of parody.
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs Patience Phillips (Halle Berry) is a pathetically meek graphic designer at a cosmetics firm who's also so utterly f*cking thick she does such idiotic things as risking her life by climbing onto a building to rescue a cat!However,one day she inadvertently learns that her bosses are planning to release an addictive anti-ageing cream (?!?) onto the shelves,and finds her life coming to a premature end.Or,is that beginning,as she finds herself turning into Catwoman,heroic defender of law and bringer of justice.There is a distinctly cruel irony whereby a film can end up receiving so many bad reviews (which are meant to deter people from watching the film!) people end up watching it anyway...just to see how bad it is.I suppose on the basis of that,I should seek out 1998's The Avengers sometime.I'd like to give Showgirls a go sometime too (I missed it when they showed it on Channel 4 recently.) Yep,in terms of 2004's most major cinematic disaster,Catwoman was,well,not to put too fine a pun on it,the cat that got the cream.Opening to abominable reviews,from everyone from Empire to Zoo magazine,it was ushered out of cinemas during the 'summer blockbuster' period almost as quickly as it was released.It then placed it's lead star in the embarrassing position of accepting a razzie award having earned an Oscar for her devastating turn in Monster's Ball only a few years earlier.It is a pretty dreadful film,but there are arguably a lot worse.It's main problem is the story,which is so uninteresting,but the same could be said of the action on display.Also,this is a film that's managed a pretty notorious achievement.It makes Halle Berry look unsexy.The first suit we see her strutting around in is okay and fairly pleasing to the eye,but the main one (the one she's in on the poster) is really unsexy and unflattering.If you want to engage your curiosity value,go right ahead,but I hope you know what you're letting yourself in for.**.
Ms. Berry played a sweet but confused Patience & a purrfectly sassy little Catwoman who was enviably beautiful & sexy (Loved that outfit!
Playing Patience with real raw emotion, and she genuinely did look frightened to speak her mind, but on the other hand as Catwoman Hallie exerts all the sexiness and confidence needed to pull of such a sensual character, and in that tight leather suit she does look HOT!!
You should not sit down to watch a movie as fun as Catwoman and expect to see a masterpiece such as The Godfather or Casablanca played out on screen.
It is a full-throttle and entertaining leisure view with a far from perfect, but interesting story and Halle Berry is simply amazing as Catwoman, in my honest opinion.
She might not be the best portrayal of the character in Catwoman history, since so many think that is so, and she might be the worst, but that doesn't mean she is bad and she is unable to be found enjoyable.I don't care if this film stuck to the original characterizations of Catwoman or not anyway.
It seems like working hard for what she wants is what Catwoman is all about anyway, so doesn't that stay true to what people have been familiar with from Catwomen in the past in some way?
What kind of plot were people really expecting from a film called "Catwoman" and there had been no confirmations that it had anything to do with Batman?
It really doesn't matter, because when the cast played out the scenes all the problems it has fade away, in my opinion, for how delightful and exciting they manage to be.Some final thoughts are that it had excellent action, great outfits and was overall a hell of a fun ride from the very beginning to the very end.
If you are looking for a fun, sexy, action packed movie, go see Catwoman!
The many behind the scenes specials that was aired to promote the movie, you see that Halle is doing most of her own stunts in this film.In the film, it is put together very well with over the top CGI effect so Halle did have the whole Eartha Kitt/Michelle Pfeiffer vibe, if not better because Michelle nor Eartha did their own stunts, sorry, but they were just pretty faces but great actors.Batman Returns is the only good movie coming out of the Batman series.So Michelle is one of the best infamous catwomans.
So Halle becoming a fighting machine is applauded.The CGI effect could have been a lot less in the film and Sharon Stone performance in this film is overrated, but not as bad as Demi Moore's comeback.(Sharon Stone is trying to make a comeback right?) Benjamin Bratt is a great leading man, but we all know a leading man, or what Hollywood like to call it "love interest" ,had to be in the film.Superheroes are best defined by the qualities of the villains they must overcome.
Even though Spiderman and Catwoman, both had overrated CGI effects, like the poorly I, Robot,please skip that movie, not worth your money, its an enjoyable movie with likable and non-likable characters with added great performances from Frances Conroy, Lambert Wilson and even the animated Alex Borstein.I also might add it is not as terrible as Batman& Robin, Daredevil, or The Hulk!!!!!!!
In any case, if you plan to watch this movie don't go in expecting comic book accuracy, but instead expect and entertaining quirky action flick and you'll probably enjoy it..
This movie has a nice bit of European touch by director Pitof, combined with the American influence from the production team and actors.Halle Berry's Oscar-winning acting rings this character to life and her stunning looks in that revealing costume will have some guys close to a heart attack.
True the film has problems that extend well beyond her, but Halle Berry, a former Oscar winner, is simply terrible in this film - and no, showing off how great she looks on the edge of 40 does not redeem her for this piece of junk (either they offered her too much money or she was so depressed over her divorce she just didn't care what the work was as long as it got her away from home and her troubles).
Hell, Benjamin Bratt probably gave the film's best performance, and he was stuck playing the hapless love interest/boy toy cop.In closing, this piece of crap makes other similarly crappy films like "King Arthur" look good by comparison (and KA was awful)..
I submit that Catwoman is a wonderful exercise in showing how pivotal one's blossoming can be - the movie also addresses the dilemma of accepting responsibility for one's own actions as well an interesting foray into choosing good over evil (or vice-versa).Of course I have seen movies with better plots, tighter screenplays, more intricate direction, more elaborate sets, blah, blah, blah.One thing is certain: NONE of them have Halle Berry slinking up and down the street as Catwoman, the LAST Dominatrix, so sexy and fetching and just plain WORKIN' NERVES!!!!!!
Hmm its hard for me to comprehend how a movie like Spiderman gets so many votes , Catwoman is the same quality if you ask me in fact i think its far superior at best.
I have read so much about this movie, and as i sat down to watch it, i didn't expect much, but as i watched it, it was just like any other comic book movie, lots of colour and over the top acting, but this film had a bonus which is Halle Berry , i mean whats not to like, there was nothing wrong with her acting, with anyones acting really i mean its not Hamlet after all, and i got to see Halle in a cool leather outfit purring like a cat, i mean mmmmmmmmmm.
I really enjoyed this film, i mean compared to the batman movies ( batman begins not included) Cat Woman was a master piece, good FX and as good as most super hero story lines.
When i sit down to watch a comic book movie , i expect action and lots of fun, which is what i got, so all you nah sayers out there, get a grip..
The Catwoman idea is not used simply as a gimmick, it is a very believable and respectable transformation.I doubted the casting when I first heard the movie was being made but now, I think that anybody but Berry would have been a mistake, she brought both glamor and humility to the role.
Halle Berry was very believable as the Catwoman and her beauty just added spice to the movie.
how stupid, Catwoman with Halie berry, was the best action film I've seen since Charlie's angels!!!!!!
They could as well have just dressed the three of them up in costumes and let them walk up and down a stage and it would have been much more entertaining than it actually was.I'm sorry, because I love Halle, I love Benjamin, and I don't really mind Sharon, but honestly I think this movie was pointless, anti-climactic and uninspired.
Halle Berry doesn't even become Catwoman until about 1/2 hour into the movie.
So much so that it would be difficult to believe that it was all accidental.It boggles the mind to think that Halle Berry could have ever thought "Catwoman" to be a good career move.
Halle Berry was weak at best and Benjamin Bratt came up with the worst acting I've seen in about 3 years.The plot only made things worse.
A GREAT movie with lots of kick-a$$ fighting scenes, not to mention Halle Berry in that suit.
What is this terrible thing that call itself a movie ?A woman dressed like a SM hooker climb the walls like a diarrhea suffering spiderman.The plot is awful and has nothing to do with the original comic : the heroin should avenge her own death and stop the evil plots from a cosmetic industry !The dialogs are pathetic and the acting game ridiculous from Halle Berry to Sharon Stone.And the FX ?
Otherwise if they stuck to the accuracy of the characters and plots the only people going to see such movies as "Catwoman" would be the few nerdy fans that have no life but to read and analyze and philosophize their ideals of Comic Book stories.
I was so bored I nearly did fall asleep, seriously, don't watch it.Sharon stone did her best but the character was laughable and although Halle berry looked really good she just wasn't right for this part.Another failing was the choice of director, someone who has only directed music videos should not have been given the helm of a movie that on paper had a lot of promise.The special effects also left a lot to be desired, in a year in which we were given the fantastic comic book movie "Spiderman 2", the effects of "catwoman" jumping around the city looked like they had been created years previously.If you are in need of a way to waste precious hours of your life that you never want to get back then go ahead and watch it, otherwise avoid this like the plague that it is..
The only reason people didn't like this movie is because they didn't watch it all the way through or they expected it to be about bat man.
Wow, does Halle Berry brings life to this character in a way I have never seen Catwoman.
I don't understand why some people don't like good movies?
This Movie dishes out a lot of the subtle Cat-like stereotypes in the form of a woman - Catwoman.
Also I would like to stress out that the music is very good and catching.Summarizing Catwoman is a far better movie than Daredevil, Hulk, Batman Forever, Batman and Robin.I would love to see a sequel of that film..
The acting is passable for this sort of film, with Sharon Stone making a good villain, though not in it enough, and Halle Berry is worth a mark alone for her sex appeal.
I actually liked the movie, Cat Woman!