DC Showcase: Catwoman

One of the best comic book adaptations I've ever seen- simply because it was made before Hollywood turned every female lead into a dull mary-sue.

And a mary-sue Catwoman ain't!

Sure, she kicks ass, but more importantly, she also gets her ass kicked too.

A great little self-contained story, filled with action, drama, humour, and the kind of writing that modern "writers" could- and SHOULD- learn a thing or two from.

The animation is slick, with Catwoman showing some great moves in the fight scenes, the voice acting is spot on, and there's not a second of fat or padding to be found- something sorely lacking in this day and age.

A well deserved 9/10.

🍄

Essentially one long action scene, 'Catwoman (2011)' is a loose follow-up to 'Batman: Year One (2011)' entirely focused on its eponymous anti-hero as she faces off against a smuggling ring. The picture is fast-paced and exciting, featuring several well-animated fights and chases. It's enjoyable right from the start. The only element which feels somewhat forced is a protracted strip tease that sees the protagonist distract her foes before pulling out her signature whip. It isn't a bad sequence, but it's obviously only included for the sake of titillation and, as such, feels unnecessary (even if it does reveal something about the lead character's willingness to embrace her sexuality as a tool to tackle the patriarchy). Though it isn't all that deep, the flick is fun and well-conceived. It's actually fairly memorable, too. 7/10

I liked that it was more action then story because action is cool. Also cool that she didn't do anything evil this time. Its not confusing at all and I highly recommend it to anyone who like action stuff.

Well, well, color me impressed.

This 2011 short animated DC feature was actually surprisingly good. In fact, it was much better than I had hoped for.

I stumbled upon the 2011 "DC Showcase: Catwoman" here in 2022. Never having heard of it before, of course I opted to watch what writer Paul Dini and director Lauren Montgomery had to offer. And I was somewhat thrilled to watch this, as I have been reading the Catwoman comic books back in the 1990s, and just recently got back into the newer series.

The storyline told in "DC Showcase: Catwoman", despite it being limited to a mere 15 minutes, was actually surprisingly good. It was a fast paced story, but also one that still managed to take the audience on an adventure with good contents and lots of action.

The art and animation style in "DC Showcase: Catwoman" was good, and it definitely helped spruce up the overall impression of this 2011 animated short feature.

"DC Showcase: Catwoman" is definitely well-worth taking the time to sit down and watch, all 15 minutes of it, should you happen to get the chance to do so. I was genuinely entertained by this one, and also rather surprised with it.

My rating of "DC Showcase: Catwoman" lands on an eight out of ten stars.

This loose follow up to "Batman: Year One" sees Selina Kyle well adjusted into her role as Catwoman, a morally ambiguous......well....it is not entirely clear WHAT her role is by this short film. She is supposed to be a thief, a cat burglar, but in this show she comes across as a sultry Batman wannabe. On a normal night of taking down thugs, Catwoman stumbles upon a familiar piece of jewelery which lands her in a drag out confrontation with the mob boss "Rough Cut".

Writer Paul Dini has managed to capture the essence of the Catwoman comic books. Sadly, even the best Catwoman comics tend to be "second stringers" particularly to Batman stories from which Catwoman spun off from. It is a very straight forward story, almost clichéd in its execution and sparse in character development. Catwoman is portrayed more as a straight up reluctant defender of the downtrodden than the multi faceted, morally ambiguous, part criminal in the comics.

While the acting is superb, the script is nothing special. John Dimaggio does Brooklyn Marcus Fenix impression for Rough Cut. But despite his awesome performance, the character is no more than a shallow bruiser boss. Once again, the main complaint goes to how short the Dc showcase films are.

Visually however, this DC showcase is as beautiful as Selina Kyle herself. The level of detail in the art is on par with many Japanese anime OVAs and the character designs retain that sultry sexuality we can expect from Catwoman comics. The actual animation however borders on the mediocre. It is no smoother than an average OVA or high budget TV series. Seems that most of the time and effort went into one of the most beautifully animated pole dance sequences in the history of animation (japanese or otherwise). That sequence had an almost rotoscoped quality to it. Exceedingly smooth and uncannily lifelike.

More time could have been spent actually developing the main character. Compared to previous Dc showcase short films like Jonah Hex and The Spectre which delved into the characters' motivations, thoughts and inner personality, Catwoman seems more like a trivial "day in the life of" one shot. It looks great, it feels great, but there could have been more substance to back up the appearance.