But somewhere between its announcement and its eventual release in 2004, something mysterious happened.
Michelle Pfeiffer left the project.
And at some point in that creative process, poor Catwoman was effectively written out of her own movie.
So why was it so bad, and can we really find at least 10 remarkable things in it?
Lets take a closer look…
Well, sort of.
The logic behind this is somewhat spotty.
Mind you, George has a bit of an odd understanding of science and scientists in any case.
You know scientists, he says to Laurel, Theyre worse than models.
You have to coddle them like little children.
Its here that Catwoman takes on a mystical hue.
Why do these magic cats do this?
Presumably, to contractually oblige them to appear in cat food commercials.
In short, theyve taken her name a bit too literally.
In another bit, she flees in terror from rain drops.
Does she puke up a hair ball now and again?
Does she sit in her bedroom window, watching traffic go by for hours at a time?
Does she go to the loo in a little box of gravel on the floor?
Its a bit like making aBatmanmovie where Bruce Wayne emits high-pitched squeaks and eats moths.
What the computer graphics in Catwoman lack in quality, they more than make up for in quantity.
Could this be the first seagull attack in a superhero movie?
While berating a group of armed jewel thieves, she says, A robbery?
What a purr-fect idea.
Hold the Kahlua…
By contrast, poor old Detective Lone gets absolutely no puns to utter at all.
Detective Lone:No.
Fine work, detective.
Its a moment that illustrates just how botched and awkward the handling of the heroine is.
Catwomans response to this embarrassing situation?
She turfs the driver out of the car and steals it,GTA-style.
The car, fittingly, is a Jaguar.
Like her star-making roles inTotal RecallandBasic Instinct,Sharon Stones character grows more maniacal as the movie goes on.
Did she simply not use enough of it?
Laurel says, as she threatens to shove Catwoman out of a skyscraper window.
Guess what, Catwoman retorts, as she stealthily turns the tables, Its overtime.
Freedom is power, she says, before the final fade to black.
Its fair to say thatCatwomanwas coolly received when it appeared in the summer of 2004.
It earned less than its $100million budget at the box office, and reviews were scornful.
After the bad reviews, along came the annual Golden Raspberries.
Thank you for putting me in a piece of shit, god-awful movie…
It was just what my career needed… As George the villain laments in one scene, This is a disaster.
A total bloody disaster…
