Catwoman

Rating:
Summary: Garbage
Review: Don't waste your time on this book or the movie. This is absolute garbage, that is a mere shadow of the character it is trying to represent.

Be a smart consumer. Know when you should stay away.

Rating:
Summary: How NOT to write fiction. I wish I could give this 0 stars.
Review: Elizabeth Hand's novelization of the "Catwoman" Screenplay should be on every writer's desk and on every English student's desk. It is the textbook example of how not to write fiction. This is one of the worst pieces of creative writing in the history of literature.
In adapting this poorly written screenplay, we see almost all the mistakes often used by first-time writers use in creating their stories. Patience Phillips a shy artist who cannot stop apologizing for herself is drowned and brought back to life by being licked by a stray Mau cat she saved. This is a clear example of the Deus Ex Machina, a plot device that conveniently gives the main character power to get out of an impossible situation or achieve a victory they could not achieve on their own. Any good writer knows to avoid this plot device at all costs because it pushes the story along without explaining things in a logical fashion.
As a character, Patience Phillips is poorly defined. There are numerous scenes where things conveniently happen to Patience through amazing coincidence. Her friends give her a leather suit to wear on a " date"; this becomes her costume. She steals a diamond tipped necklace from criminals that conveniently has diamond tipped claws on it. Ophelia Powers is there to tell her she was "reborn" and is "one of nine catwomen." The Mau cat gives her powers. In the stages of her character's development Patience never comes to discover anything on her own and grow as a character. In creative writing this is truly horrible storytelling. In good writing the plot moves forward from the characters discovering things on their own and the audience learns about them from seeing what they see.
The writing style used here isn't good at all even for a movie adaptation. Yes the writer is working from a screenplay, however this is terrible work coming from an award winning professional writer of published books. The prose style and sentence structure in a lot of the paragraphs is very unprofessional. In describing looks Hand excessively uses the word "stared" as opposed to using words with similar meaning to add variety to her writing. Some sentences don't even make any sense. An example: "She was back in her studio apartment "I hope you don't mind, Bast or whatever your name is," she said, lifting the mask to peer through the two slashes she'd made for eyeholes. "But I need something that looks a little more modern. And a name that's easier to pronounce.... like, say -Catwoman"
Her lip curled. Her hand closed around the diamond-tipped claw necklace. She drew it toward her face, regarded it appraisingly before suddenly, violently giving a snarl, and ripping it apart. Claws went flying. Catwoman looked at them coldly, then quickly gathered them. One by one, she slashed each diamond-tipped claw through a finger of her leather gloves, until she had ten lethal, shining talons. She turned her hands this way and that then shoved her chair away from the desk, exposing her legs in her skintight leather pants. Swift as a striking cobra, her hand tore at the leather. Catwoman hissed, the sound somewhere between pain and pleasure, and when she was finished raised her hands, curling her fingers in delight. This is the writing style used by an amateur writer who knows nothing about sentence structure, wordplay or description. The overuse of melodrama in these book passages is a common mistake used by first-time writers in their rough drafts. First-time writers often think these wordy descriptions are smart, however they make no sense to the reader. It's filling up pages with words for the sake of ego.
If this is book adaptation is an example of what the movie will be like then this will be a horrible movie. Elizabeth Hand's Catwoman is written in a language for a child however I cannot recommend this book to any parent who wants to give their children something to read or any adult looking for something entertaining to read. There are better books out there. Buy one of them instead.

Rating:
Summary: IF YOU'D JUST GIVE IT A CHANCE!
Review: I AM A HUGE CATWOMAN FAN AND IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOVIE SINCE ASHLEY JUDD WAS SUPPOSE TO PLAY THE PART. AS SOON AS I SAEW THIS BOOK I GRABBED IT AND READ IT. IT WAS AWESOME, IT CONTAINED A GREAT STORY, CATWOMAN WAS TRUE TO HER CHARACTER, AND TWO GREAT CHARACTERS WERE CREATED IN THE FORM OF PATIENCE PHILIPS AND TOM LONE. SO SHE'S NOT SELINA KYLE, GUESS WHAT,SHE'S JUST AS TRUE TO THE SELINA KYLE CHARACTER AS MIICHELLE PHIEFFER'S CHARACTER WAS, ONLY WITH LESS TIME FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT PATIENCE PHILIP[S MIGHT BE BETTER. BESIDES, SHE DIDN'T GET THE NAME SELINA KYLE UNTIL THE MID TO LATE 50'S BEFORE THAT IN BATMAN 3# SHE HAD THE NAME ELVA BARR. AS FOR THE COSTUME, LOOK AT THE COVER TO NINE LIVES OF THE FELINE FATALE, SHE HAS HAD ELEVEN DISTINCTIVE AND TOTALLY DIFFTERENT COSTUMES. AS I SAID CATWOMAN STILL HAS THE SAME WHY BE SERIOUS I';D RATHER HAVE FUN PERSONALTY AND PLAYS IT WELL, BESIDES THE COSTUMES SHE WEARS LOOK A LOT LIKE THE ONES OF CATWOMAN AFTER JAIL AND BATMAN YEAR ONE. THE ONLY THING I DIDN'T LIKE WAS SOME OF THE WRITING AND DIALOGUE WAS PRETTY SUCKY. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE (OR BUY THE ADAPTION).

Rating:
Summary: Catwoman by Elizabeth Hand
Review: I bought this book not knowing nothing about the film. The story is interesting and fun! Her outfit is explained purrfectly, from the mask a "Symbolist version of a jaguar's skull", to the open-toed shoes. Everything in the outfit has a reason, and its all explained. After reading this book I'm super hyped to see the film.

Now this is one movie I cant wait to see! Buy the book, you'll fall in love with it, just as I did.

Rating:
Summary: Catwoman by Elizabeth Hand
Review: If you are a reader/movie go-er and are not interested in comic books please read: There has been much negative buzz around this book and movie due to the fact that it is not based on the original character from DC Comics. Fans will rate this poorly no matter if the book or movie really is good or not. Thought I should clear that up.

Catwoman is a story based on a shy and sensitive artist Patience Philips. She uncovers a dark secret about the company she works for: Hedare Beauty. Patience is then murdered and transformed into the sleek and stealthy creature Catwoman.

I really do enjoy this book. I understand the fans outrage against this film (I'm a Selina Kyle fan as well) but I found this an interesting take on the Catwoman character. I really connected with Patience. The character feels real, exerting emotions that we've all felt. A big plus for the book. The love interest, Detective Tom Lone, is a great supporting character. Sally, Patience's best friend, provides a lot of comedic relief. The story has great underlying messages, such as: Beauty comes from the soul.

I had to rate this 4 stars because the stories that Ophelia Powers wrote were very boring to me. I didn't enjoy them. Plus Warner Brothers should have at least attempted to make a Catwoman movie with Selina Kyle. Now, I've read the Daniel Waters script for the Catwoman movie with Selina Kyle (a story based right after Batman Returns) and it sucked majorly. I'm not kidding, but maybe they should have gotten a different writer to try their take on Selina. However, I'm not going to regret this original story because it is good.

If you are a fan of Catwoman from the Batman comics I would suggest to stay away from the book and movie. But if you're into action/adventure, a little bit of romance, and just love a fun, exciting read then this book is for you.

Rating:
Summary: A fun read!
Review: It's a fast paced, exciting novelization. When I pick it up, I can barely put it down. The way the film is detailed in the book, I think it's going to be a fun film. It's not claiming to be a materpiece, just a fun and wild entertainment ride.

Also, the author knows how to use similies and synonyms and metaphors and analogies correctly. The book has many descriptions. I'd say it's written for a sophmore in H.S. reading level (in the honors program). It's by far not a tough read, but it can trip you up if you don't have a dictionary handle.

Also, what I find interesting is how the author writes out the thoughts of Patience/Catwoman as though you're inside her head. Ellizabeth even adds her opinions a long the way as if she were there observing the actions of each scene. As a young novel it's great. It's not boring and moves the plot and story right along with no hang-ups.

Needless to say, I can't wait to see how the film, Catwoman, plays out in connection to the book.

Rating:
Summary: Not that bad!
Review: One star is way too harsh! First rule of mine is entertain me and please don't bore me. Hand did entertain me. It's just a fun summer film, come on! Not the greatest but worth a look. Hand does a nice job of putting us inside the head of Patience/Catwoman and that's more than a bigger name author did for a novelization of another film that disappointed me. I also think this is the sort of book that younger (teen) readers and older readers can both enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: MUCH better than the movie....
Review: This is my first Elizabeth Hand novel and definitely not my last. I think the limitations of the novel are in direct proportion to those of the script Hand had to base it upon. The book is a quick read, but an interesting one. Unlike the film, Hand incorporates a plot twist that takes the reader by surprise at the end.

"Catwoman" by Elizabeth Hand is the story of Patience Phillips, possibly the nicest person in the world. She works for a large cosmetic firm that's just on the edge of releasing "Beauline" a cosmetic that promises to be the "Fountain of Youth." Patience discovers the product is fatally flawed. Unfortunately, the Boss discovers her and she's killed by henchmen. A cat she'd saved from a ledge earlier that day comes to Phillips' rescue and reincarnates her as "Catwoman."

"Catwoman" swears to stop her former employer from releasing "Beauline". The resulting caper definitely tests Patience's resilience and nine lives.

The book is a worthwhile and short read, probably an airplane or doctor's office book.

Rating:
Summary: "Lowbrow" is not a strong enough word....
Review: This thing is so bad, I truly do not know where to begin. I give it one star only because 0 or negative numbers of stars are not possible.

It is true that the simply ridiculous script the author was working from was bad enough on its own; however, add to that the author's stilted, cliche'-ridden personal style and it quickly becomes unbearable. Nights are "black." Rivers are "raging." Roars are "deafening." No one merely looks at anyone or anything here; they "stare." There is not one shred of originality, or colorful powers of desciption anywheres in this thing.

This may be the most poorly-written book I have read since V.C. Andrew's "Flowers in the Attic"; but at least with that, there was a plot of some (admittedly disgusting) interest lurking under the horrific prose-style.

The plot here concerns Hedare Cosmetic's plot to take over the world by selling women a face-cream which turns women's faces to a stonelike substance; should use be discontinued, the flesh begins to rot off the user's face. Sound stupid? Trust me, it only goes downhill from there.

It is perhaps richly ironic that while the use of cosmetics and women's use of sex-appeal as a weapon is generally derided, the film's star just happens to be Revlon Cosmetic's head spokesperson, and that the lead character of this piece of dreck (I refuse to call her Catwoman; this is not Catwoman but a new character leeching off Catwoman's popularity with Batman fans) "empowers" herself by painting her face and donning a pseudo-sexy outfit designed to show as much skin as possible. Mixed messages abound. So much for social commentary!

Read this awful piece of garbage or go to see the accompanying film at your peril. You were warned.

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining and fun read
Review: While I generally tend to avoid book adaptations of movies (especially if I've already seen the movie) I thought I'd give "Catwoman" a shot. It seemed like a quick read and since I liked the movie, I figured why not. I ended up liking this book a lot. I had fun with it and I was entertained, and that is its purpose. No, it won't go down in history as a classic, nor will it win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. But it's a fun read and serves as a nice companion to the movie. Elizabeth Hand has done a commendable job in transferring the feel of "Catwoman" into a novel. Recommended to any fan of the movie, or anyone who just wants some entertainment.