I Can't Say THAT....

Sci-Fi Daily, with a headline I can't repeat, points out today that Catwoman figures very highly in this year's Razzies awards, with nominations in SEVEN categories including “Worst Picture.” Sight unseen, I knew this was a bad idea months ago, before I even saw trailers. This movie should have been made in the early ‘90s, shortly after Batman Returns, and starred Michelle Pfieffer reprising her original role. The recasting didn't bother me, since the series I grew up with set a precedent of THREE Catwomen, although it was three actresses playing the same role. Personally, I liked Julie Newmar the best--I'll never forget the time our hero had to choose between the lady or the tiger. My main concern with Halle Berry when I first heard about this movie was the possibility of her leaving her X-men role as a result of it. I don't think she was the best choice for Storm but now that she was established I'd hate to see the part recast in a sequel. Bad enough that happened with the Batman series; it forces the viewer to accept that no one else is wondering why he looks nothing like Michael Keaton and all the other characters react to him like nothing has changed. That bugs the hell out of me.

I think if a character is going to be spun in to her own movie, it has to be while the main one is still popular. Supergirl(I love Helen Slater) came out a year after Superman III, and more recently Elektra premiered about two years after Daredevil. Pffeifer was a BIG draw for Batman Returns; seems like a no-brainer to have given her a movie spinoff. I don't know why they waited so long, and why they changed the character so drastically. If it isn't Selina Kyle, why bother?

Will I see this movie? Have I seen worse? Will I ever see the new Punisher movie, as bad as I heard it to be? As a (former?) comics geek, there is somewhat of an obligation, especially with the Marvel movies. There was a time when seeing Marvel characters live was a rare thing. I had to settle for seeing Spidey on The Electric Company, and later for guest stars on Hulk TV movies. Bad as those were, Rex Smith and John Rhys-Davies were great as Daredevil and Kingpin, possibly better than their big-screen successors.

I've seen some bad movies. Somewhere on VHS I've taped Generation X with Matt Frewer and Nick Fury with David Hasselhoff--I'm actually oddly tempted to track down where I have the latter, only because I rewatched the former on a bored afternoon last year well before I had Netflix. Captain America. Howard the Duck. The original Punisher. In a way it's fitting that Marvel movies are so much better than DC comics these days, since in the 80s and 90s it was definitely the other way around. Batman Begins looks REALLY promising though. Superman Returns sounds like it has potential as well.

Will I never see Catwoman though? I can't say that. The only thing that's certain is that I'm in no particular hurry, and there's a LOT of movies I'll see before I get to it. Someday...