The film stars Halle Berry, Benjamin Bratt, Lambert Wilson, Frances Conroy, Alex Borstein, and Sharon Stone.

Its plot centers on Patience Phillips, a meek graphic designer, who discovers a conspiracy within the cosmetics company she works for that involves a dangerous product that could cause widespread health problems.

After being discovered and murdered by the conspirators, Patience is revived by an Egyptian mau cat that grants her superhuman cat-like abilities, allowing her to become the crime-fighting superheroine Catwoman.

Washed up on shore, Patience is mysteriously revived by an Egyptian Mau cat named Midnight which had appeared at her apartment earlier; from that moment on, she develops cat-like attributes.

From Midnight's owner, eccentric researcher Ophelia Powers, Patience learns that Egyptian Mau cats serve as messengers of the goddess Bast.

Disguised as a mysterious vigilante, named Catwoman to hide her identity, Patience, under cover of darkness, searches for answers as to who killed her and why.

Later on, Laurel murders George for his growing suspicions and infidelity and admits to having Dr. Slavicky killed because he wanted to cancel the product's release.

Laurel sees her rapidly disfiguring face in a window's reflection, and horrified, she fails to grab hold of Patience's outstretched hand, and falls to her death.

Although Patience is cleared of any charges made against her regarding the deaths of Dr. Slavicky and the Hedares, she decides to continue living outside the law and enjoy her newfound freedom as Catwoman.

Missy Peregrym appears uncredited as the Hedare factory computer monitor image (Beau-line graphics model), depicting the bad effects of the beauty product.

[10] The film labored in development hell for years with Ashley Judd as the lead in 2001,[11][12] but she eventually dropped out[13] so Nicole Kidman was considered.

[14] When Warner Bros. canceled a Batman vs. Superman film scheduled for 2004, the studio decided to quickly produce Catwoman as replacement, starring Halle Berry.

Strathie explained that they wanted a "reality-based wardrobe to show the progression from demure, repressed Patience to the sensual awakening of a sexy warrior goddess".

[22] Pitof said reshoots happened as late as June 2004 — one month before release — after working cuts yielded confusing, incomplete dialogue sequences and awkward visual transitions.

New scenes were added, including a fresh ending that shifted Patience’s relationship with Tom from a “romantic comedy”-style conclusion, as Pitof calls it, to a darker, open-ended closer.

The site's critical consensus reads: "Halle Berry is the lone bright spot, but even she can't save this laughable action thriller.

[29] The review from San Diego Metropolitan Magazine praised Berry's appearance in the suit, the dynamic action sequences with Catwoman's whip and the director's efforts to maintain momentum, but criticized the film's script and logical consistency, highlighting the absurdity of certain scenes, and found the actors struggling "to make sense" of the script, ultimately deeming it one of the worst of the year.

[30] In a negative review, Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter explained that the film "seems destined to join Showgirls and its ilk as a fast-starting and even faster-fading theatrical release that could enjoy an afterlife as a midnight movie and video/DVD item where viewers supply alternate dialogue".

[citation needed] In a scholarly analysis of female protagonists in action cinema, Caroline Heldman et al said that the film ends with Catwoman choosing "a solo existence as her sexualized body slinks into the full moon; even this otherwise agentic act is constructed for the consumption of the male gaze that follows her.

[34] Bill Muller of The Arizona Republic stated that Berry should possibly give back her 2001 Academy Award as a penalty for the film.

Featuring voice actor Jennifer Hale,[38] the game varies from the film's plot and received negative reviews on Metacritic.