(Writer)
“Catwoman: Hunted” is the latest animated movie released by DC animated studios. It has taken quite a while to finally have a movie of just her own without Batman and the Joker in the story, which to me is just getting too repetitive.
“Catwoman: Hunted” is made in an anime style that includes some excellent jazz music for most of this film made by Yutaka Yamada, which I truly enjoyed. It very much reminded me of animes like “Cowboy Bebop” and “Lupin the Third” in its tone. The drawing is done very well mostly, and the voices for the film are done very well for every character in the movie. Mostly.
I know I keep using the word “mostly”; however, there is a reason for this. Every character sounds good except for two in this film, Batwoman, and Soloman Grundy. Therefore, I had to look up to see who voiced them to save you the trouble of doing so.
Batwoman is voiced by Stephanie Beatriz. She has voiced many characters in animated movies and shows like Disney’s Encanto, Lego Movie 2, and television’s Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy. However, her voice in this sounds like a “woman trying to make a boy’s voice,” and it’s weird.
Second is the voice of Solomon Grundy. Sure someone may claim that Steve Blum is a master at voicing, but it doesn’t work here. It’s not deep enough bass for a character of his size. Instead, it sounds like another person attempting to perform a deep voice.
Elizabeth Gillies is fantastic as Selina Kyle, with the right amount of mystery, sexuality, and tone overall, adding an uniqueness to Catwoman.
The main problem I have with this film is the length and story. Seventy-eight minutes is such a short time to complain; however, when a movie is trying to combine three different story plots into one, it gets very tiresome. It seriously was ending at around the one-hour mark, and then it continued. The only excuse to do this is to make it a feature-animated length. Not only is the direction boring, but it tremendously slows down the pacing, which is odd. This is actually the best action in the film but made through poor decisions.
It’s as though the storyboards got messed up during the film meetings, and nothing matches the tone or is placed right. At the end, there are villains that give lame explanations and expositions no one really cares about, that are horribly dated as they come.
I actually wanted to enjoy this film more because, personally, despite all the great Batman animated movies made, I wanted to see DC move away from Batman for some films. Unfortunately, the first time they do so within its universe, they forget how to storyboard and pace the film.
Also, once again, this is my observation, but it appears the animation style changed from anime to an average DC animated film. Why? What happened? Did I miss something?
Oh well.
Content Guide
Rated PG-13
Sex / Nudity: There is a sensual scene between two women in a bathtub as one teases the other as she undresses. No nudity is involved, and nothing further happens in the scene.
Language: Some brief mild language. No strong language.
Violence: The usual things you see in these types of films: martial arts, shooting, explosions, and some animated blood. If someone dies, it’s offscreen or shown in shadows. A character is shown after limbs are dismembered. However, it is explained they will grow back. A woman is seen getting impaled, but it is also in a silhouette scene.
If you’d like to hear more of Kevin’s, The Dapper Man, thoughts on a variety of films, visit his YouTube Channel, The Dapper man.