Halle Berry Celebrates Catwoman Movie Defenders 17 Years After Release
Halle Berry has responded to fans online who have been retroactively praising her much maligned 2004 Catwoman movie. Releasing just years after the Batman franchise died out with the negative reception of Batman & Robin, the movie was seen as an attempt to reinvent one of DC’s most popular characters, who had become beloved in the 1990s following Michelle Pfeiffer’s iconic performance in Batman Returns. Directed by music video maestro Pitof, the film bared little resemblance to its comic origin character: the cat-burgling Selina Kyle. Instead, X-Men’s Halle Berry stepped into the leather catsuit as Patience Phillips, a shy graphics artist who finds herself reborn as the super-powered vigilante Catwoman. Berry’s version of the character ditched the skin-tight one-piece for a sports bra and leggings in a more freeing look. Rather than battling Batman in Gotham, Patience took on an evil corporate cosmetics queen played by Sharon Stone.
The 2004 Catwoman ultimately bombed, failing to make a profit on its reported $100 million dollar budget. Shunned by DC fans for having little to do with its source material, and mocked by general audiences for being all-round a weak movie, Catwoman is often brought up in conversations about the worst comic book movies of all time. Berry even became one of a handful of actors to have won both an Oscar and a Razzie, receiving Worst Actress only a couple of years after her historic Academy Award win for Monster’s Ball.
However, fans of Berry and her version of the feline hero have recently taken to Twitter to defend the flick, and the actress had a humorous response for them. Replying to a Catwoman-apologist on Twitter, Berry asked “Where were you guys 17 years ago[?]”, as the actress referenced the shared critical and audience panning the film got upon its original release. Complete with a laughing emoji, Berry jokingly hits back at the lack of initial support the DC comics movie got upon its 2004 release. See the original Tweet below:
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Luckily, the film’s reception didn’t harm Berry's long-term career. The actress has gone on to star in movies of all genres, including continuing her comic book interests as Storm in the X-Men films. Catwoman, in the meantime has continued to thrive, and the role was given a much needed fix-up in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. In the gritty Batman sequel, Anne Hathaway portrayed a more accurate Selina Kyle, with a penchant for theft and betrayal. Catwoman is set to return once again as Zoë Kravitz takes the mantle in Matt Reeves' upcoming The Batman starring Robert Pattinson.
The retroactive support for Catwoman may be surprising to some, but it’s just the latest in a long line of famously panned movies finally getting some love. The Star Wars prequels are among the selection of films that were berated upon release but in recent years have found new love as their childhood fans come of internet-age. The return of old Batmen including Michael Keaton in the upcoming The Flash movie means that perhaps, with enough love and support, fans could find a way of getting Halle Berry back to the DC universe as Catwoman all over again. Anything is possible now.
Source: Halle Berry/Twitter