Forget
everything about the original CUTIE
HONEY, Hideaki Anno's trash extravaganza with eye-popping visual
effects. Instead, for this film, imagine Wonder Woman in Blade
Runner. The setting is Japan at the end of the 21st century; the
landscape is drab, rainy, cold and polluted. Due to the extreme shortage
of land, the cities are now built upward. One such super skyscraper
is Tatehama Special Zone with the lower class occupying street level
while the very wealthy live comfortably on the top. Downstairs are the
poor; they constantly deal with the plight of the ghetto including crime
and toxic rain. The rich, on the upper floors, are led and protected
by androids under the jurisdiction of Lady Jiru (played by Nicole Ishida).
But there is civil resistance even among the wealthy and it is especially
evident with a scientist who developed a socially conscious android
named Hitomi (Cutie Honey played by Mariya Nishiuchi). After a scrimmage
which kills her father, Hitomi escapes to the underworld where she plans
revenge against Lady Jiru.
This
new reboot of Go Nagai's endearing Cutie Honey character (originally
popularized in the '70s) is a far cry from the original nubile 'Honey
Flash' crime fighter. Director Takeshi Asai - a pop culture artist who
specializes in music videos and counterculture short films -
has
spent a great deal of money and expertise to create this SciFi homage
to Blade Runner and Mamoru Oshii's GHOST
IN THE SHELL.
Action is swift and the style is intoxicating. Just don't expect Cutie
Honey.
A Japanese
film, with English subtitles; widescreen format, uncut version (92 minutes),
DVD encoded for ALL REGIONS NTSC; extras include original trailer.