"The Batwoman" was mentioned in an online article that ranked 110 superhero movies (it came in 101st out of 110, behind "Rat Pfink A BooBoo" and ahead of "The Spirit"). Out of curiosity, I found a version of the movie with English subtitles on Youtube to see what merits it might have.
Well, the article calls it a "spoof" (similar to "The Wild,Wild World of Batwoman", which was definitely a spoof), but I can't see it. It isn't especially "heavy" or dramatic in tone, but "The Batwoman" doesn't have nearly the energy, invention, or humor of, say, the original Adam West "Batman" movie.
OK, maybe I'm not being fair comparing it to an American superhero movie. But it also isn't nearly as over-the-top (or antic) as a classic Mexican wrestler movie such as "Sampson/Santo Vs The Vampire Women".People say stuff, things happen, there's a swinging jazzy soundtrack, but none of it is particularly funny or impressive.
In its favor: the actress they cast as the heroine is very nicely shaped, has pretty good muscle tone and definition for a woman of that era and is quite pretty, if not very charismatic. And watching a subtitled version instead of a dubbed and remixed version meant that I actually got to hear the actors they way they were meant to be heard instead of the fruity ESL crap film distributors try to foist on American audiences. Every one in the cast is at least decent - they hit their marks, they know what to do with their hands, they remember their lines, they are comfortable in front of the camera, etc. No one sucks the way they might in an Ed Wood or Bill Rebane movie, and the dialog doesn't make my ears bleed.
Against: Well, the plot is a dashed-off, hacked-out affair with huge gaps and lapses in logic. Batwoman is said to be a crack shot, an expert wrestler, etc., but neither she or her assistant/friend Robles seem to be very smart or effective against the evil doctor, his henchmen, or his monster. (At two different points, Robles has his pistol out, but chooses to tackle the monster by hand, and all Batwoman ever seems to do against it is scream and faint).
In an charming touch, Batwoman chooses to fight crime in a skimpy bikini, but puts on MORE clothing when she wrestles in the ring.(I think this was actually a stand-in.) Don't expect much from the wrestling subtext here, by the way;the scenes are shot from a long way away, and the matches are short and indistinguishable from a million other luchadore matches.
I give "The Batwoman" an extra star because it's fun to see how another pop culture genre approaches something like this and it's mildly refreshing to see Mexican B movie tropes being deployed instead of American ones. And in spite of several long, draggy scenes, the movie was fairly short and didn't overstay its welcome.
Well, the article calls it a "spoof" (similar to "The Wild,Wild World of Batwoman", which was definitely a spoof), but I can't see it. It isn't especially "heavy" or dramatic in tone, but "The Batwoman" doesn't have nearly the energy, invention, or humor of, say, the original Adam West "Batman" movie.
OK, maybe I'm not being fair comparing it to an American superhero movie. But it also isn't nearly as over-the-top (or antic) as a classic Mexican wrestler movie such as "Sampson/Santo Vs The Vampire Women".People say stuff, things happen, there's a swinging jazzy soundtrack, but none of it is particularly funny or impressive.
In its favor: the actress they cast as the heroine is very nicely shaped, has pretty good muscle tone and definition for a woman of that era and is quite pretty, if not very charismatic. And watching a subtitled version instead of a dubbed and remixed version meant that I actually got to hear the actors they way they were meant to be heard instead of the fruity ESL crap film distributors try to foist on American audiences. Every one in the cast is at least decent - they hit their marks, they know what to do with their hands, they remember their lines, they are comfortable in front of the camera, etc. No one sucks the way they might in an Ed Wood or Bill Rebane movie, and the dialog doesn't make my ears bleed.
Against: Well, the plot is a dashed-off, hacked-out affair with huge gaps and lapses in logic. Batwoman is said to be a crack shot, an expert wrestler, etc., but neither she or her assistant/friend Robles seem to be very smart or effective against the evil doctor, his henchmen, or his monster. (At two different points, Robles has his pistol out, but chooses to tackle the monster by hand, and all Batwoman ever seems to do against it is scream and faint).
In an charming touch, Batwoman chooses to fight crime in a skimpy bikini, but puts on MORE clothing when she wrestles in the ring.(I think this was actually a stand-in.) Don't expect much from the wrestling subtext here, by the way;the scenes are shot from a long way away, and the matches are short and indistinguishable from a million other luchadore matches.
I give "The Batwoman" an extra star because it's fun to see how another pop culture genre approaches something like this and it's mildly refreshing to see Mexican B movie tropes being deployed instead of American ones. And in spite of several long, draggy scenes, the movie was fairly short and didn't overstay its welcome.