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Patience Phillips (Berry) is a frazzled designer at the monolithic Hedare Cosmetics empire, where the bosses (Wilson and Stone) are clearly up to no good. On the eve of a revolutionary anti-aging product launch, Patience overhears something she shouldn't and is bumped off. But she's rescued from the jaws of death by an Egyptian Mau cat. Now she has a Jekyll/Hyde personality--ditsy Patience by day, vengeful Catwoman by night. But the lines are blurring. And the cop (Bratt) who's taken a fancy to Patience smells something fishy.

Pun intended. The fish jokes are my favourites, as Patience wolfs down tuna and sushi and stalks a tropical aquarium. And there are a lot of these touches that keep us chuckling, distracting us from the appalling storyline and wafer-thin characters. We have bits from lots of films--Batman's dark dreariness, Spider-man's roof-hopping, an old woman who explains it all (Conroy), and lots of sudden fight scenes just because they can.

Berry is clearly having a ball, and her infectious energy saves the film--from the awkward Patience to the out-of-control cat-crime to the more sleek and confident action that follows. Stone and Bratt are well-cast foils--befriending, falling in love, chasing her down, fighting her with no holds barred. Some of the stunt work is impressive, but the pure-CGI stuff is way overdone.

Pitof seems to think he's making a 30-second advert. He can't resist filling every shot with unnecessary effects and tricky camera movements that are almost as seasick-inducing as Berry's ferocious hip-swing. It's over-edited and very flashy, which wouldn't be a problem if there was something underneath. But the whole blessing/curse, feminine freedom, confidence-building subtext is merely mentioned in passing on the way to the next closeup of Berry's firm, leather-(semi)-clad body. As new-model spokeswoman Drina (Smith) says, "I think this is a total waste of time." But that's rather harsh.

KenR, Mbabane, Swaziland: "Well, of course the film is silly--how can anyone take a cartoon character like catwoman seriously (cf the rubbish written about the wonders of spiderman)--but it's great fun. And the great thing is that this character doesn't try to be a hero but has a good side and a bad side, like the rest of us. Also, the bad guys are real, not freaks with eight arms or masks; and the love interest knows from early on who the masked woman is! Catwoman is a refreshing blast." (8.Jan.05)