Granted, I enjoyed the 2004 "Cutie Honey" movie that had Eriko Satô starring in it, so when I happened to stumble upon this 2016 "Cutie Honey: Tears" movie, of course I took the time to sit down and watch it.
I hadn't even heard about this movie before finding it and having the chance to watch it, so it was a nice surprise to stumble upon a find such as this in the movie selection.
Well, this was not up to the expectation I had. Not even by a longshot. The storyline told in "Cutie Honey: Tears" was too random and while there was a red thread throughout the movie, director Takeshi Asai just was all over the place trying to accomplish way too many things at once, and succeeding only in a few.
The movie didn't have that silly feel-good feeling that the 2004 movie had to it. And it didn't really feel like Cutie Honey at all. Sure Mariya Nishiuchi, playing Cutie Honey in this 2016 movie, was nice to look at, but she lacked the charm and on-screen presence that Eriko Satô had. And having her change multiple costumes and looks throughout the movie just didn't help sell the concept either.
Visually then "Cutie Honey: Tears" was spectacular. The CGI effects were good, very good. But it wasn't enough to lift up the massive holes that served as a script and storyline for the movie.
So essentially "Cutie Honey: Tears" was just a visually impressive movie with a pretty lady, and little to no storyline at all. And it should be said that Nicole Ishida definitely was also a pretty lady, but was also struggling with having nothing to work with in terms of script and storyline.
I wanted to like "Cutie Honey: Tears", I honestly did. And I did manage to endure the movie, though the last 20 or 25 minutes were a struggle to get through.
My rating of "Cutie Honey: Tears" is a mere four out of ten stars. It is nowhere near as enjoyable and entertaining as the 2004 movie.
