Say what you want about Cutie Honey, but it's a movie that's characterised by its fun- in very few movies have I felt the joy and vibrancy of its director behind it. Considering Hideaki's past endeavours, the much more serious in tone Love + Pop and Neon Genesis Evangelion one would think this movie impossible in his overall oeuvre but it's not- it fits right there earning its place as one of his greatest films. Or that's what I feel in my heart at least.
So Cutie Honey follows the story of Honey Kisaragi, an immortal human born again by the power of love achieved through her choker that her father made when she got into a car accident. A shady and otherworldly organisation called the Panther Claws are trying to get this collar's technology in order to continue being immortal so Honey meets two other people, serious policewoman Natsuki and journalist Seiji that will get her to the bottom of this organisation.
Now let's start with some positives, I think the people that make all of these new superhero movies nowadays should learn a thing or two about this one- Hideaki isn't concerned with making another "origin story" but instead plants the viewer directly into the drama and action of it all. Even if I didn't knew what Cutie Honey was before watching the movie I still felt that I knew these characters and what the gist of the plot was. We still get some minor exposition dumps here and there but it's nothing that interrupts the experience in my opinion- and it happens naturally too (according to me!).
Another thing that I love about this movie is its commitment to use more practical effects and actual miniature set pieces- there's an extras documentary included in the DVD where Hideaki Anno explained that he wanted to keep any digital VFX to a minimum which is just so amazing, wish moviemakers had that same mindset today! Heck, he even created a new style of animation in this movie, a type of animation that combines the poses and stunts a real life actor does with the movements of an anime and manga panel.
Keeping on with the positives, and that's in the hugely talented cast that supports this movie. It wouldn't work otherwise, everyone is camping it up to the max and I love to see it. It all appears as if they're having maximum fun giving their all to make this movie as fun as possible- even supposed newcomer Eriko Sato (the role of Honey) makes a fun and engaging main role (it's kinda weird tho how in the dvd she's marketed as the top swimsuit model of Japan and not an actress lol!).
Another thing that I love is just how it's filmed, it perhaps doesn't have a lot of the experimental shots that one is accustomed to see in Hideaki's past films (Love + Pop being an excellent example for this), but it still carries style and camp and flair.
Speaking of camp, this movie goes all out in visuals, acting and is why I think it could turn off a lot of people expecting something else, due to it being from Hideaki and such but I think if you just let yourself go and just enjoy it for what it is then it delivers in spades!
And now for a few negatives, namely that this movie can feel quite nonsensical in structure and some characters don't get very fleshed out. I know that's one of the main disadvantages of remaking an anime/manga into a live action movie, in a manga you get the development and fleshing out of characters in many many pages but in a movie it has to be cut down... In this aspect I still think Hideaki does a fine job.
All in all this is a wonderful movie, filled with fun and lots of heart and campness. Check it out!
So Cutie Honey follows the story of Honey Kisaragi, an immortal human born again by the power of love achieved through her choker that her father made when she got into a car accident. A shady and otherworldly organisation called the Panther Claws are trying to get this collar's technology in order to continue being immortal so Honey meets two other people, serious policewoman Natsuki and journalist Seiji that will get her to the bottom of this organisation.
Now let's start with some positives, I think the people that make all of these new superhero movies nowadays should learn a thing or two about this one- Hideaki isn't concerned with making another "origin story" but instead plants the viewer directly into the drama and action of it all. Even if I didn't knew what Cutie Honey was before watching the movie I still felt that I knew these characters and what the gist of the plot was. We still get some minor exposition dumps here and there but it's nothing that interrupts the experience in my opinion- and it happens naturally too (according to me!).
Another thing that I love about this movie is its commitment to use more practical effects and actual miniature set pieces- there's an extras documentary included in the DVD where Hideaki Anno explained that he wanted to keep any digital VFX to a minimum which is just so amazing, wish moviemakers had that same mindset today! Heck, he even created a new style of animation in this movie, a type of animation that combines the poses and stunts a real life actor does with the movements of an anime and manga panel.
Keeping on with the positives, and that's in the hugely talented cast that supports this movie. It wouldn't work otherwise, everyone is camping it up to the max and I love to see it. It all appears as if they're having maximum fun giving their all to make this movie as fun as possible- even supposed newcomer Eriko Sato (the role of Honey) makes a fun and engaging main role (it's kinda weird tho how in the dvd she's marketed as the top swimsuit model of Japan and not an actress lol!).
Another thing that I love is just how it's filmed, it perhaps doesn't have a lot of the experimental shots that one is accustomed to see in Hideaki's past films (Love + Pop being an excellent example for this), but it still carries style and camp and flair.
Speaking of camp, this movie goes all out in visuals, acting and is why I think it could turn off a lot of people expecting something else, due to it being from Hideaki and such but I think if you just let yourself go and just enjoy it for what it is then it delivers in spades!
And now for a few negatives, namely that this movie can feel quite nonsensical in structure and some characters don't get very fleshed out. I know that's one of the main disadvantages of remaking an anime/manga into a live action movie, in a manga you get the development and fleshing out of characters in many many pages but in a movie it has to be cut down... In this aspect I still think Hideaki does a fine job.
All in all this is a wonderful movie, filled with fun and lots of heart and campness. Check it out!