It was announced yesterday that Anne Hathaway will get to play Selena Kyle--the alter-ego of villainess Catwoman--in the upcoming "The Dark Knight Rises" Batman film.
I really don't like Anne Hathaway. Sure, she is a really pretty girl. But I remember what she did with the "99" character in the absolutely horrid "Get Smart" film--I know that she will trash the Catwoman role too.
Oh, give me the days when first, Julie Newmar, and second, Eartha Kitt, played Catwoman to the hilt on the old "Batman" TV show. They truly understood the character--her femininity and her viciousness, all rolled into one pretty package.
Lee Meriwether kind of fit the fill, too, in the original "Batman" big-screen film, and I guess that Michelle Pfeiffer fit it too--well, at least in her costume--in "Batman Returns."
Then we had Halle Berry. Sure, she has a great body--the best body of all the Catwomen--but what was her "Catwoman" movie really about--that body or the character?
Now we have Hathaway, one of the most over-rated actresses of this generation, taking on this role.
It is a complex one, and one that I feel is way beyond her abilities to handle. Of course, good writing will help, but sorry, I don't think Hathaway has it in her.
The Catwoman character has to have that mix of vulnerability and viciousness that certainly Newmar and Kitt completely understood. She has to snarl at the same time that she slinks.
Can Hathaway do it? Based on her performance in "Get Smart," no, sorry, I don't think so. She didn't get that character, and I don't think she will get this one either.
Who do I think should play Catwoman?
The choice is an obvious one.
Angelina Jolie would have the role of Catwoman in the palm of her hand. She has the looks, the brains, and the talent to handle such a role.
Would she do it? I don't know, but Hathaway can't hold a candle to her.
So I say go for "Tomb Raider" over "99."
You can't go wrong.
It's the "purr-fect" choice.
I have to respectfully disagree with you on two counts.
ReplyDeleteNumber One, I do not feel that Anne Hathaway is the most over-rated actress of our time. There are a number of others whom I would crown well before Hathaway; topping that list would be Uma Thurman, followed by the very person you feel would be better for this role. (Which means, I suppose, that you now know what the second thing I disagree with you is.) I don't know that you can fault hathaway for her performance in "Get Smart," as she gave the performance the director was looking for and it was a bad movie all the way around.
I will agree with you that Julie Newmar will always be THE Catwoman; none have come near touching her where this role is concerned. Personally I'd place Pfeiffer second on the "best Catwoman" list; Kitt gets a nod for having the best purr of the bunch, however!
As for Hathaway, I'll admit that she probably would not have been my first choice for the role either, but sometimes such unusual selections end up being the roles we most remember certain actors for. I'm reminded of the reaction people had back in the 80s when it was announced that Michael Keaton was going to play Batman; there was a huge outcry but some of us said "Give him a chance," and the rest is history. So give her a chance, she might just surprise us both.
And if it turns out that she is as bad a Catwoman as Seth Rogan is a Green Hornet, I'll be the first one to say "You were right!"
Put me down for that, the Seth Rogan/Anne Hathaway thing. I can guarantee it. I have not seen anything that gives me pause to consider Hathaway a good actress. She is darn good looking, which I think makes for half the Catwoman role. I think you have to take Pheiffer's look, Newmar's overall sexiness, Kitt's purr, Berry's body, and Merriweather's features, roll them into one, and you would get the Purr-fect Catwoman. But I wouldn't cast Hathaway in the role, I don't think that she can handle it. Jolie just has that sexiness that few female actresses have today, and I think that that feature, coupled with her acting skills, which I think aren't as bad as some believe they are, would make perhaps the ultimate Catwoman. Hathaway, she's not even in the running with any of her predecessors, but like Rogen, I will give her a chance, but alas, probably a chance to fall flat on her very pretty face. Let's see if the script actually makes sense--the last two Batman movies, in my opinion, have been awful reboots of a wonderful story. Hathaway, no matter how good or how bad she is, won't make a bad script good (re what you said about "Get Smart").
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