review for Cutie Honey on AllMovie

Cutie Honey is an almost direct adaptation of Go Nagai's 1970s Japanese comic book and animated series, so it makes sense that it suffers from many of the same problems that plague the source material. The film suffers from lethal problems like treading close to content that is much like softcore pornography, and lacking a cohesive storyline. When viewing Cutie Honey, it is hard not to enjoy the impossibly cute Eriko Sato prancing around as the pink-clad warrior of love Cutie Honey, but it is disturbing to consider the film's intended audience. With villains that look as if they could have jumped out of an episode of Power Rangers and a heroine who is basically a little girl in a woman's body, it seems as if Cutie Honey was made for children. However, with scenes where Honey lounges around in nothing but a white bra and panties for extended periods of time, the film gives off a feeling of unpleasant and unexpected sleaziness. Cutie Honey also becomes unhinged as it tries to balance some lighthearted musical numbers and visually freewheeling action scenes with tedious melodrama. It's easy to understand director Hideaki Anno's motivation to try this, as it would even closer resemble the original work, but he fails to make the audience care about a karaoke-singing, bubble-gum-pink little girl super hero. As the film reaches a special-effects-drenched climax, featuring yet another useless musical number, it becomes easy to stop paying attention completely and just start wondering when this whole noisy thing will come to an end. There are a few highlights to be found in Cutie Honey, such as the film's constant jazzy pop soundtrack and some perfect costume design, but they just do not add up to anything near a satisfying viewing experience.