Cutie Honey at the 2004 Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF), going on this week.
I heard about this
Cutie Honey (from Japan cinema) which I gather is based on an
anime and, I kinda' gotta say this one was, uh, er, entertaining to say the least.
To me,
Cutie Honey was a fun film. I dunno if I'd necessarily call it a "family fun-oriented film." Well, go check out a few online reviews, if any, before deciding to take the family or not. I thought the shots of the film's female lead (as said superhero "Cutie Honey") of Eriko Sato were tasteful enough . . . then again, I'm sorta' biased because The Man can STARE at an Eriko Sato all day, OK, hahah.
So, anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Warner Brothers logo and intro' appear at the beginning of the film, following the HIFF 2004 "trailer" that precedes all of its screenings, I guess; I suppose WB does East Asia films as well. Didn't seem like a mistake as the Japanese trailer-label for
Cutie Honey immediately followed and so did the start of the film.
Cutie Honey's in the vein of Japanese TV and/or movie super heroes like your
Kikaida and/or
Kamen Rider, etc., with a few differences: 1) there's no cool mask to hide her face (and who the heck would want to, if you've ever seen an Eriko Sato [SSSSHHHHHWING!!!]) and 2) the fact is, unlike most Japanese TV superheroes . . . hmmm . . . how can I put it . . . the fact that Eriko Sato's quite beautiful, and, to be conservative about it, the film banks on that. The synopsis goes more into it:
http://www.hiff.org/filmlisting_tickets/synopsis.php?mid=3405&pid=CUTI&sid=.
Much like your human
Kamen Rider human alter ego belt or other device used to transform them into their super hero persona, Honey Kisaragi (the obligatory human name for Cutie Honey; see after she was fatally injured in a car accident, her daddy saved her by essentially turning her into a robot and/or android) wears a choker with a small pink (and, by the way, her color is "pink"; keep that in mind, it's gonna' be important in a few minutes) heart on the side of it. Honey turns into Cutie Honey by pressing two fingers and yelling "Honeyyyyyyyyyy FLASH!!!" and goes around being a super-hero (yeah, no kidding) and she can really eat up bunches of those wrapped musubis you can find at Longs or wherever, but, Cutey Honey gets 'em from the convenience store in her town and also from folks at work who bribe her with those snacks so that she can DO their work. She also needs food for energy, etc., even thought she's a robot. Oh, well, Robocop needed his own . . . what was it called? That baby food-like substance to keep HIM going.
Cutie Honey's nemesis is the Panther Claw gang, consisting of tons of fedora'd, gold handgun-wielding henchmen, and the following super villains: Gold Claw, Cobalt Claw, Black Claw, and Scarlet Claw. See a pattern here? Their respective super-villain outfits are way more colorful than their names, even. Oh, yeah, and there IS the inevitable powerful arch-enemy in charge, of course, that Cutie Honey has to face. Black Claw, as his name would suggest, is not only the only male enemy in the Panther Claw gang, but, busts out into a big-band tune 'fore his fight with Cutie Honey.
She's also armed with a sword and there is a bunch of sword play in this film, too. Not half as much blood, methinks, as the
Azumi film I previously mentioned.
Now, if this film sounds like it's all in fun, it is, of course.
But what got me is that there was a kind of a moral at the end that concerns, what, existence and all. And then some. I couldn't believe how seemless the transition from kinetic action and humor could nicely go into a substantive statement of sorts. I was kinda' laughing quietly to myself because I was thinking, "wow, this film actually has some kinda' message, meaning to it . . ." to state it simply, at least. I mean, messages in over-the-top superhero/comedy films might not be anything new, but, this one had me thinking for some reason. I dunno if you end up seeing this one, you tell me if you felt something.
Overall, it's kinda' lighthearted, but it's an Eriko Sato vehicle, too (more on that in a minute). Japanese pop music-ish soundtrack. The majority of the film features costumes that are colorful, a private eye and detectives and cops who are slapstick, when Kisaragi changes into Cutey Honey, there's cool animation that accompanies the change, and, to me, the level of fighting wasn't too far off what you'd see in a Power Rangers (or the aforementioned Kikaida) TV show. There is one sorta' frightening part where the arch-enemy tries to win Cutey Honey over to the side of the Panther Claw organization. The majority of the film is kinda' like, say,
The Mask or that TV show
The Tick or Jackie Chan's
City Hunter, and, be advised that
it IS an Eriko Sato vehicle if you ask me (what does THAT mean exactly? Well, Sato IS quite beautiful and, I think she's got a few posters out there, and, well, I'll just quote directly from the HIFF synopsis: ". . . Cute Honey's hot!" Yeah, she sure is) so, if you don't like any of this kinda' thing, then,
Cutie Honey might not be for you.
Japanese celeb' (and does she have a
sashinshu out there as well?) Eriko Sato stars in the role of "Cutie Honey." Oh, did I mention that Eriko Sato is in this film already? Well, you can't mention enough of an Eriko Sato. Eriko Sato. See? Siiigggggh. Cutie honey indeed.