There are a number of movies I have liked, but not loved because I expected something different, something more. I liked White Chicks but I didn't love it because I was expecting to laugh more than I did. I liked The Clearing but would have liked it better if the pace had been a little faster. But with Catwoman, I had the opposite experience. The buzz on this movie has been so bad, for so long (it's been compared to Gigli, Glitter and Showgirls), I was expecting a lot worse. 

Apparently there are a lot of fans of the Catwoman comic book heroine. Who knew she had such a following? The die-hard Catwoman fans are coughing up fur balls over the liberties the director has taken with the character. They don't like her new name, her new  look or the lack of Batman. Well, this isn't your mother's catwoman.

This catwoman begins life as Patience Phillips (Halle Berry), a would-be artist who designs ads for a cosmetics company run by the unhappily married duo of George and Laurel Hedare (Lambert Wilson and Sharon Stone). As fate would have it, Patience uncovers a secret about the beauty cream her company is about to unveil. They kill her to silence her. Meanwhile, an ancient and mythical cat has taken a liking to Patience and is there when her lifeless body washes ashore to breathe new life (and some much needed fashion sense) into Patience. Not only does the new Patience have a taste for sushi and tuna but she also has confidence and the ability to scale walls, leap and hiss. In a move that sort of baffled me, her new found cat sense also gives her the uncanny ability to cut and highlight her own hair. Who knew that cats were the cosmetologists of the animal world! Benjamin Bratt is along for the ride as Detective Tom Lone Patience/Catwoman's love interest and detective on her trail.

What's good about Catwoman? Halle Berry. We all know she looks amazing in the outfit (and fellas you'll have to wait almost an hour before Halle slinks into costume!). But her acting isn't bad which is saying something since she's working with a script that can't decide if it should be fun and campy or a serious dark comic book movie. Oh wait, this is the 'what's good' paragraph. I digress. Anyway, the chemistry between Bratt and Berry is palpable. Alex Borstein (from Mad TV, you know her as Miss Swan) provided a few light comic moments as the chubby sidekick.

What's not-so-great about Catwoman. The entire cat history. According to Ophelia, the crazy cat lady (played by Frances Conroy - the mom from Six Feet Under), this particular cat has been breathing life into dead women for centuries and daring them to embrace their newfound feline/feminine freedom. I've mentioned the script which managed to get several unintended laughs. But the director, Pitof (like rice pilaf but not as tasty) deserves most of the blame for what is wrong with Catwoman. It looks like he edited the fight scenes by throwing the footage in a blender. He cuts and edits so fast that it is distracting and hard to follow the action. After a while, you get tired of even trying. The CGI effects look amateurish almost as if you are watching the Catwoman video game and not a movie, they are that obvious. Sharon Stone is just too over the top. She'd have been great if the movie was going for camp but since it decides to take itself more seriously her performance just doesn't work. 

Catwoman. The worst movie of the year? A sign of the apocalypse? A career-ender? Nah. Catwoman is none of those things. However, I wouldn't hold my breath for Catwoman II. Make it a Blockbuster night.