Well, for you, dear friends, I made a leap, and I watched a movie that I would have never seen otherwise—Catwoman.  My dedication to exploring all things super heroic in non-comic media has made me a soldier in war of outlandish entertainment!

With the dismal reviews, the Razzy, and the “ooh, cooties” reactions from everyone I asked about this film, I expected this movie to stink like week old trash.  It didn’t.  Catwoman was entertaining, reasonably well written, stylishly directed, and the actors clearly didn’t just phone it in.  Catwoman’s message was very female-empowering, and Halle Barry was sort of charming in the role.  The dialogue was reasonably sharp, and some of the imagery was quite exciting.

So, given all this, why was the movie a flop?  I don’t know.  I think most people condemned it without seeing it, and simply avoided having to formulate their own opinions.  Maybe it was because its star was an Academy Award winning actress, and this was seen as exploitative and cashing a big check.  Maybe the small but vocal group of fanboys was angry because this movie didn’t represent the Catwoman of DC Comics—Credits listed “Based on characters created by Bob Kane,” but any similarities between Selina Kyle and Halle Barry’s Catwoman were superficial.

Am I saying the movie was perfect?  Clearly not.  There was an awful lot computer generated Catwoman jumping around, and the CG version of the character appeared to lack mass and weight.  (Of course, Jim Balant’s version of Catwoman always seemed immune to gravity as well.)  Most of the characters played to well-known stereotypes, too: Sheryl Stone as the evil corporate villainess; Benjamin Bratt as the too-good-to-be-true detective/love interest; Alex Borstien as the loud but loveable, pudgy best friend; Etc. There were no real surprises here, to be honest.

So, I’m going to vote against the prevailing opinion and give Catwoman a solid B-.  Will this make me more popular as a reviewer?  Undoubtedly not.  But, if I can’t be honest in my appraisals, why bother to do this?

Scott.

This last Saturday night, I watched the Incredible Hulk, the re-launch of the series starring Ed Norton as Bruce Banner, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, William Hurt as General Thunderbolt Ross, and Tim Roth as the Abomination. It should also be noted that Tim Blake Nelson as Dr. Sterns was delightful, and he stole the few scenes he got.

This movie was smart, fast, and well done, and they did us the great service of simply glossing over the Hulk’s origin and diving right into the story. They also made a point of adapting the 1970’s television show as much as they did the comic, taking what worked from the small screen version of the franchise.

My disappointment with the Incredible Hulk is that its advertising campaign touted the movie as being “As Good As Iron Man.” Incredible Hulk was good, but it was not that good. Iron Man was one of the best superhero movies ever made, and Robert Downey Jr. was stellar as Anthony Stark. The Hulk was simply good.

The Incredible Hulk was all around much better than Ang Lee’s 2003 Hulk movie. This is easy to explain: The script was much better written on Incredible Hulk.

As far as special effects go, the Incredible Hulk looked stronger than the preceding Hulk; his muscles looked ‘ropier,’ as if painfully distended all the time. As far as the climactic battle between the Hulk and the Abomination, I was less than entertained. But, I will be the first to tell you that I probably wasn’t the target audience for this battle. Fans in their twenties and thirties, looking for the big payoff images that bring their characters to silver screen life, were probably all orgasmic in fanboy way over this spectacle.

I’ve had this conversation before, you see. Fanboys want their heroes to look cool, and if that means rubber gimp suits and vacuum fitted latex, fine. I’m all about the utility—I’d rather see a fully functional, usable suit or costume. But, that’s just me. That doesn’t apply to the Incredible Hulk so much. (Although I was impressed that Bruce Banner kept getting stretchy pants—the stretchier, the better! An important point if you don’t want the Hulk running around al fresco.)

So, do I give the Incredible Hulk a B+ or an A-? It’s a tough call. I’m opting for the B+.

Scott.