Shinsuke Terasawa (director)
(studio)
15 (certificate)
77 (length)
07 February 2022 (released)
03 February 2022
Opening with a DC villains costume party in Spain, Catwoman (Elizabeth Gilles) is casing the opulent villa with a jewel in her sights. This just so happens to be Black Mask’s (Jonathan Banks) gift to gain him entry to the inner circle of the global Leviathan crime syndicate led by Lady Minerva (Kirby Howell-Baptiste).
It’s a fine setup for a story that takes the viewer around the world from Spain to Shanghai to Paris as Catwoman manages to upset and alert, Leviathan (which is a collective of the world’s most powerful crime organisations), legal authorities and Batwoman (Stephanie Beatriz). As well a few demons once the League of Shadows get involved.
There’s plenty going on in this film; intrigue, fighting (maybe too much of the latter so that at times there’s a hint of filler about it) and a surprising amount of sexual innuendo that has hitherto been confined to the bat and the cat.
It’s a brightly drawn anime influenced with director Shinsuke Terasawa at the helsm, with a good script by Greg Weisman that gives the actors plenty of room to work with and develop their take on the characters.
Another key element is the soundtrack by Yutaka Yamada which Terasawa has integrated carefully through the film incorporating a number of different musical styles that really do work well within the films and as a foil for some characters.
It is however an odd film in that it feels as if it’s coming in from another story and there’s a definite hint that there’s more to come. Its boldly a fan pleaser with references to Catwoman’s various costumes and villains not usually associated with the Bat/Cat side of the DC Universe. And of course, her relationship with Batman, though we are made to ponder what other sides there are to Selina Kyle’s character or is she just a manipulative rogue with an eye out for herself.
The special features are a featurette: When The Hunter Becomes The Hunted and a documentary Catwoman: The Feline Femme Fatale.
Catwoman: Hunted is available on DVD and Blu-ray from 7 February and digital download from 8
