CATWOMAN / * (PG-13) : ROGER EBERT

CATWOMAN / * (PG-13): "'Catwoman' is a movie about Halle Berry's beauty, sex appeal, figure, eyes, lips and costume design. It gets those right. Everything else is secondary, except for the plot, which is tertiary. What a letdown. The filmmakers have given great thought to photographing Berry, who looks fabulous, and little thought to providing her with a strong character, story, supporting characters or action sequences. In a summer when 'Spider-Man 2' represents the state of the art, 'Catwoman' is tired and dated.
Although the movie's faults are many, the crucial one is that we never get any sense of what it feels like to turn into a catwoman. The strength of 'Spider-Man 2' is in the ambivalence that Peter Parker has about being part nerdy student, part superhero. In 'Catwoman,' where are the scenes where a woman comes to grip with the fact that her entire nature and even her species seems to have changed?"


BY ROGER EBERT