Catwoman: Hunted - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Catwoman: Hunted



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
Much like 2021’s Batman: Soul of the Dragon, the DCAU takes a different take on the world of Batman in both tone, acting, and general aesthetics with a side story revolving around the queen of catishness, Selina Kyle. The results are a bit mixed (much like Batman: Soul of the Dragon) and the acting isn’t always up to par, but the short animated film is a mildly entertaining side romp with cotton candy fluffiness and lots of wise cracks.

The film starts out with Catwoman (coyly dressed in a throwback costume of herself) decides to crash a superhero themed party headed by Barbara Minerva (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and the rest of the Leviathan members. However, after a bit of a hullabaloo, Catwoman gets out with the goods, only to get stopped by Batwoman (Stephanie Beatriz of Brooklyn-nine-nine), King Faraday (Jonathan Frakes) and Julia Pennyworth (Lauren Cohan) who twist her arm to get Selina to help them take down Leviathan (who SEEEMS to be headed up by Minerva).

Not to be taken advantage of, Catwoman and her cat Isis decide to go along with the mission, but have a bit of an ulterior motive at heart. While she’s happy to get her criminal record wiped clean by doing the deed, she also has her heart set on getting her paws on a few “ooh shinies” as well. Along the way she’s going to have to fight the Leviathon thugs, the undead Solomon Grundy, and a few demons as well.
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IIf you want fluffy, 79 minutes of cheeky one liners and Selina teasing Batwoman, then this is the right film for you. The short film is very much a girl power movie with Catwoman just letting herself out to stretch her legs and make fools of everyone. It’s cheeky, light hearted, and the story itself is a throwaway piece that really doesn’t push forward any major narratives or story pieces for the DCAU. It’s fluffy entertainment that gives fans of Catwoman some well needed fan time. Nothing more, nothing less.

I really enjoyed the very film noir style of aesthetics and musical choices. It’s very jazzy and breezy, adding to the simple escapism of the film as well. The art style also deviates quite a bit from the typical DCAU movie too. The 1960s style of drawings make it seem to fit in another time period, something which I’m quite sure was intentional based upon the costumes and the musical choices. I will never say that Catwoman: Hunted is a great movie, but it certainly knows that it’s trying to be simple escapism and a side story rather than cramming it into the general DCAU timeline.




Rated PG-13 for violence, bloody images and suggestive material




4K Video: Video:

Even though this is technically a 2K upscale from what I’ve been able to ascertain, Catwoman: Hunted is a rather nice looking 4K UHD disc for sure. The detail levels aren’t much more than the Blu-ray is due to the simplistic animation style, but the use of HDR really makes the film pop. Especially in the dark night time shots where the ridiculous color banding seen on the Blu-ray just vanish. The greens and blues are that much more vibrant, and all around it’s a very pleasing looking image. The red wig gets some nice sharpness to it, and I don’t notice any line art issues or obvious artifacts outside of the CGI motion sometimes looks a little “off” (look closely at the jump jet’s door closing part way through the film. You can see the obvious motion issues from low budget CGI at play there).







Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track (found on both the 4K UHD and the Blu-ray discs) is just as solid as the video is. It’s not going to be a stunner, but it definitely checks off all the right boxes to be a good action oriented mix. The jazzy score really infuses the film with a light footed and springy sound to the film, and the action bits get the bass going more than a few times. The massive battle with Solomon Grundy is filled with nice hefty mid bass, and the there are even a few times where you can hear some sub 20hz material. Vocals are crisp and clean as usual, with Catwoman’s “catty” (hehe) retorts coming through just fine. Surrounds get active once things kick off, but also know how to fade into the background for the more dialog heavy bits.







Extras:

• NEW When The Hunter Becomes The Hunted Featurette – When does the hunter become the hunted? In this case it's when Selina Kyle steals the "Cat's Eye" emerald and Batwoman informs her, "Congratulations, Selina, you just became Leviathan's No. 1 target." Those targeting Catwoman include wave after wave of assassins, ninjas, and Super-Villains – from Tobias Whale, Black Mask, Cheshire and Nosferata to Solomon Grundy, Talia al Ghul and Cheetah. In this all-new featurette, our experts break down the backstory of each integral villain.
• Catwoman: The Feline Femme Fatale – Watch the documentary on Catwoman's history.

Final Score:
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As I’ve stated above, “fluffy” is really the best word to describe Catwoman: Hunted. The movie is a light hearted affair that really isn’t meant to be anything more than simple escapism for one of Batman’s more “interesting” villains. Kind of like Harley Quinn, Catwoman is more anti-hero than villain, but even with all the appeal of Selina, the package is kind of lightweight and empty calories at the end of the day. There’s lots of quips and one liners, but very little depth and even the rogues gallery villains are little more than cameos in this Batwoman/Catwoman team up. The visuals and audio are certainly quite good, but the extras are a bit limited and I’d leave this as a rental at the end of the day.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Stephanie Beatriz, Jonathan Banks, Lauren Cohan, Elizabeth Gillie, Kelly Hu, Keith David, Jonathan Frakes, Steve Blum
Directed by: Shinsuke Terasawa
Written by: Greg Weisman
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English, French DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Warner
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 79 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 8th, 2022

Recommendation: Decent Watch