Cutie Honey

Directed by: Hideaki Anno

Starring: Eriko Sato, Mikako Ichikawa

Synopsis:

Based on the long-running cartoon, Cutie Honey, aka Honey Kisaragi, is a cyber-being brought to life by her father, after the real Honey was killed in a car accident. An innocent trying to find her way in the world, Honey is able to transform into a neon pink spandex-clad warrior thanks to her “I-System” necklace and a cry of “Honey....FLASH!”. Honey needs her super powers to battle the evil tree demon, Sister Jill (Eisuke Sakai) who along with her Panther Claw cohorts has kidnapped her uncle. Reluctantly assisted by no-nonsense female cop Natsuko Aki and cool reporter Seiji, can Honey save the day?



Review:

The above clip tells you just about everything you need to know about the style of this movie. After the sombre seriousness of The Dark Knight and The Watchmen, Cutie Honey bursts onto the screen like a giant bag of Skittles.

The animated opening credit sequence gives those of us new to Cutie Honey an idea of how closely the movie and characters match their original cartoon counterparts and the live-action version lives up to the breathless action style, which is somewhere between Power Rangers and Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle (I particularly love seeing the black-clad henchmen being flung through the air).

Away from the action there are a number of funny scenes including Honey’s attempt to work in an office environment, and her relationship with stern cop Natsuko, who’s thick-framed glasses and tight ponytail give her the air of a closet dominatrix.

Eriko Sato was probably cast as Cutie Honey based on her Swimsuit modelling career, but she shows promise here which has been expounded upon in recent roles, such as in Funuke-Show Some Love you Losers. Here she hits the right notes of innocence and open-heartedness, as well as looking great in her costume.

The main badguy, Sister Jill, is a bit of a wet fish – an immortal bored with her earthbound existence who sees something novel in Cutie Honey that she wants to consume. Her five henchmen are much better, looking like they escaped from a better budgeted episode of Power Rangers.

Verdict:

A whole lot of fun and frolics are to be had here. Cutie Honey avoids the mistakes made by Speed Racer and provides a candy-coated camp comic-book adaptation that all ages can enjoy.

7 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

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