This is a spoiler-free advance review of Catwoman: Hunted, which will release on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and Digital HD on Tuesday, Feb. 8.
Catwoman: Hunted is a departure from the usual DC Universe Movies formula in more ways than one. Like 2008's Batman: Gotham Knight before it, this film features an anime-flavored take on the DCU. It also boasts a script from Greg Weisman, one of the minds behind Young Justice. Those two influences combine to form one of the best DC Universe Movies to date, and one that winds up sharing more than a little in common with the seminal Cowboy Bebop.
Hunted isn't exactly a spinoff of Young Justice. Weisman instead describes it as "Young Justice-adjacent," sharing only a couple of minor characters and voice actors in common with the long-running series. Tonally, the two are very different despite both targeting a relatively older audience. Where Young Justice is a dense, lore-heavy series that often explores the darker side of being a teen hero, Hunted is a very lighthearted, plot-lite romp through the DCU.
Hunted begins as any proper Catwoman adventure should: with Selina Kyle (Elizabeth Gillies) stealing a priceless gemstone and finding herself way in over her head. With the terrorist organization Leviathan and its mistress Cheetah (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) on her tail, Catwoman has no choice but to team up with Batwoman (Stephanie Beatriz) and Interpol agents Julia Pennyworth (Lauren Cohan) and King Faraday (Jonathan Frakes) to keep her nine lives intact.
Again, this straightforward premise might not impress Young Justice fans looking for more of the same, but it's just the right approach for this lean, 80-minute animated format. Hunted starts off with a bang during Selina's daring jewel heist mission, and the pace never lets up as she dodges one increasingly deadly villain after another.
It's during that opening sequence that the Cowboy Bebop influence becomes readily apparent. Hunted really scratches that Bebop-shaped itch with its emphasis on stylish action, irreverent humor, and a funky, jazz-heavy score. Or, given that director Shinsuke Terasawa is a veteran of the Lupin III series, perhaps it's more accurate to say Hunted is a chip off the Lupin block. There is a similar globetrotting adventure quality here as Selina bounces from one exotic location to the next. The result is a melding of Eastern and Western influences that works surprisingly well.
It's also a refreshing change of pace to see DC tackle a Batman movie without including the Dark Knight himself. Half the charm of Hunted comes from the slightly more off-kilter dynamic between Gillies' Selina and Beatriz's Kate Kane. Gillies has just the right "reckless, hedonistic criminal with a heart of gold" vibe in her role. Beatriz, meanwhile, takes a little while to warm up to her role as Batwoman. Beatriz is basically in full Rosa Diaz mode here, and some of her early dialogue falls a little flat as a result. But as the two characters' lives become more chaotic and intertwined, the film really begins to exploit the Selina/Kate relationship to its fullest. If anything, it makes a strong case for DC to start exploring that particular pairing in the comics more often.
In general, Hunted features one of the more impressive voice casts in the DC Universe Movies line. Keith David as Tobias Wale is a particularly inspired bit of casting, as is Jonathan Banks as a very sleazy version of Black Mask. Howell-Baptiste also impresses as Cheetah, a performance that's about as far removed from the Kristen Wiig version of Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984 as possible.
Apart from echoing the fun, jazzy vibe of Cowboy Bebop and Lupin III, Hunted's real success is in sidestepping so many of the recurring flaws in these direct-to-video animated projects. The script is perfectly tuned for the format, with none of the usual pacing problems. The animation is slick and finds a cohesive balance between traditional DC animation and bombastic anime elements. DC took a bit of a risk tackling a Batman-less, female-driven anime movie, and it's one that truly paid off.
from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/xYL05Idcw
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