| Catwoman | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Pitof |
| Produced by | Denise Di Novi Edward McDonnell |
| Screenplay by | John Brancato Michael Ferris John Rogers |
| Story by | Theresa Rebeck John Brancato Michael Ferris |
| Based on | Catwoman by Bob Kane |
| Starring | Halle Berry Benjamin Bratt Sharon Stone Lambert Wilson Frances Conroy Alex Borstein |
| Music by | Klaus Badelt |
| Cinematography | Thierry Arbogast |
| Editing by | Sylvie Landra |
| Studio | Village Roadshow Pictures Di Novi Pictures Frantic Films Maple Shade Films |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 19, 2004 (Los Angeles) July 23, 2004 (United States) |
| Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100 million[1] |
| Box office | $82,102,379[1] |
Catwoman is a 2004 American superhero film and quasi-spinoff of the Batman film series directed by Pitof and released by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures on July 23, 2004.
The film was inspired by the DC Comics character of the same name, who is traditionally a supervillain and love interest of the superhero Batman.[2] This story features a completely new character, Patience Phillips, donning the Catwoman costume.
The film stars Halle Berry, Sharon Stone, Benjamin Bratt, Lambert Wilson, Frances Conroy, and Alex Borstein. It was poorly received by critics and audiences and is commonly listed as one of the worst films ever made.
Contents |
Artist and graphics designer Patience Phillips works for a cosmetics company called Hedare Beauty which is ready to ship a new skin cream called Beau-Line which is able to reverse the effects of aging. However, as Patience visits the factory where it is being manufactured, she overhears a discussion between the scientist Dr. Ivan Slavicky and Laurel Hedare, the wife of company owner George Hedare, speaking about the dangerous side effects from continued use of the product. Laurel's minions discover Patience overhearing and are ordered to dispose of her. She tries to escape using a conduit pipe, but the minions have it sealed and Patience flushed out of it, drowning her.
Lying washed up on the shore and lifeless, Patience is mysteriously brought back to life by an Egyptian Mau cat, and from that point on develops catlike abilities and an insatiable desire for justice. With the help of a researcher named Ophelia Powers, who tells her that Egyptian Mau cats serve as messengers of the goddess Bast, Patience understands that she is becoming a "catwoman" reborn with abilities that are both a blessing and a curse. Wearing a mask to disguise her identity, Patience stalks the night as Catwoman seeking the answer of who killed her and why.
Eventually, her search leads her to Laurel Hedare, who murders her husband for his infidelity and frames Catwoman for it, causing her to be taken into custody by the police. Yet Patience slips out of confinement and confronts Laurel in her office, revealing that she is the one responsible for her death. During the fight, Laurel's face is scratched by Patience, and she nearly plummets to her death when she falls out of a window, grabbing onto a pipe for dear life. However, when Laurel sees her face in a reflection, she chooses not to be rescued by Patience and instead falls to her death.
Though Patience was cleared of any charges made against her regarding the deaths of the Hedares, she chooses to continue living outside the law enjoying her newfound freedom as the mysterious Catwoman.
Missy Peregrym (uncredited) appears as the Hedare factory computer monitor image (Beau-line graphics model), depicting the bad effects of the beauty product.
Initially there was debate about the writing credits, with 28 writers involved in the arbitration, but the Writers Guild of America ultimately awarded screenplay credit to John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris, and John Rogers, and story credit to Theresa Rebeck, Brancato, and Ferris.
Catwoman's world wide box office reached $82,102,379. Its US DVD rental gross during its stay on the weekly top 50 chart was $35 million.[1][3]
Catwoman received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics and currently holds a 10% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 178 reviews with the consensus stating: "Halle Berry is the lone bright spot, but even she can't save this laughable action thriller."
The film appeared on the list of Roger Ebert's most hated films. He criticized the filmmakers for giving little thought to providing Berry "with a strong character, story, supporting characters or action sequences", but his primary criticism came from the failure of the film to give the audience a sense of what her character experienced as she was transformed into Catwoman.[4]
Film critic Bill Muller of the Arizona Republic suggested that maybe Berry should give back her 2001 Academy Award as a penalty.[5]
This film received seven Golden Raspberry nominations in 2005, including Worst Supporting Actress (Sharon Stone), Worst Supporting Actor (Lambert Wilson) and Worst Screen Couple (Halle Berry and either Benjamin Bratt or Sharon Stone). It won in the categories of Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Halle Berry), Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay. Berry, while clutching her Academy Award statuette, accepted the award for Worst Actress personally, saying, "First of all I want to thank Warner Brothers. Thank you for putting me in a piece of shit, God-awful movie . . . It was just what my career needed."[6] She has gone on to speak frankly in interviews about her views regarding problems with the film.
Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks ran a series of comic strips in which Riley is punished by being forced to watch Catwoman. He subsequently campaigns to have Catwoman considered to be a form of child abuse.
Originally, the film's theme song was to be Britney Spears' "Outrageous", but Spears broke her knee on the set of the music video, and the idea was scrapped. Instead it was replaced with Mis-Teeq's "Scandalous".
A video game was published by Electronic Arts UK and Argonaut Games. Featuring the voice talents of Halle Berry, the game varied from the film's plot and received below average reviews.
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gigli |
Razzie Award for Worst Picture 25th Golden Raspberry Awards |
Succeeded by Dirty Love |
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