Have you ever watched 2004’s , starring Halle Berry and Sharon Stone? I would totally understand if you haven’t. Having won a variety of Razzie Awards upon release, including Worst Picture and Worst Actress, it’s still touted as one of the worst superhero movies of all time—but I beg to differ. Two decades later, the campy action flick still remains a total guilty pleasure.
Only, there’s nothing really guilty about it at all; I’d argue it’s actually an unabashedly fun and stylish piece of cinema. And you can fight me on that. When debuted 20 years ago, it instantly received backlash—both for its weak plot points, and extra-sexy costuming.
The story revolves around Patience Phillips (Berry), a shy woman who inherits the speed and reflexes of a cat. She uses her special abilities to defeat evil cosmetics titan Laurel Hedare (Stone), who plans to release a new skin cream that’s actually dangerously addictive and toxic. Yes, the storytelling was a little farfetched.
“I always thought the idea of Catwoman saving women from a face cream felt a bit soft,” Berry recently told . “All the other superheroes save the world; they don’t just save women from cracked faces.” But do any of us watch superhero movies for the plot? The story, I’d argue, is truly secondary: You tune in more for the fight scenes, the delicious costumes, and the star power—and this 2000s flick truly had it all.
I mean, can we talk about Berry’s modernized Catwoman costume, which was conceptualized by legendary costume designers Angus Strathie and Colleen Atwood? Diehard fans of the iconic DC Comics character felt Berry’s leather two-piece bra and pant was too risqué, but I’ve always felt it was slick, modern, and totally badass. Berry : “It was something different, but in our minds, why keep remaking Catwoman if you’re not going to take risks and bring something different to it? The beauty was that it was better suited for my version of her, my body, who I was, and my sensibilities.” I understand staying true to the original, but how boring would it be if Berry’s Catwoman was simply a Michelle Pfeiffer 2.
0? I stand with Berry, who took a creative risk, yet bore . “I didn’t love [the backlash],” said Berry. “Being a Black woman, I’m used to carrying negativity on my back, fighting, being a fish swimming upstream by myself.
. . It wasn’t going to stop my world or derail me from doing what I love to do.
” If you take yourself out of the mindset that needed to be true to the comics, you’ll open up yourself to the reality that it’s, in fact, a fun and campy standalone film. I mean, that scene where Berry walks up to a bar, in total leather costume, and orders a “White Russian—no ice, hold the vodka, hold the Kahlua”? Iconic. Or the way she repeatedly struts on top of rooftops, as though she’s walking on a high-fashion Paris catwalk? .
I’m sorry, but if you also have a problem with Sharon Stone and Halle Berry having a literal , then you’re missing out on life’s little pleasures! It may not be an Oscar-worthy project, but I’ll gladly watch two Hollywood legends battle out in stilettos any day. So, do yourself a favor, will you? Lighten up, have a re-watch in honor of its 20-year anniversary, and don’t miss out on Mis-Teeq’s “Scandalous” on the soundtrack, either. ( .
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