DANGER DOLLS is a cheapo Japanese action flick that mainly consists of some sub-CHARLIE'S ANGELS type characters running around in knee-high boots and kicking a lot of minor backside. It looks and feels like an independent production, and it has the usual average writing, plotting, and lack of characterisation you find in these cheaper-than-cheap productions. Most of the action simply consists of girls battling bad guys in the woods and it's all a bit senseless, although some of the choreography is okay. It needs a bigger budget to be good, however.
2 Reviews
Babes with swords sci-fi martial arts fun.
BA_Harrison8 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
In an alternate reality where all guns and nuclear weapons have been outlawed, Ray, Miki, Mari and Arisa—four female warriors armed with samurai swords and trained in the martial arts—defend their world against The Guru, a power hungry villain from a parallel universe whose army of obedient masked soldiers regard (and fear) him as a god. To avoid arousing suspicion while they search for the Guru's inter-dimensional wormhole, the girls go undercover as J-pop group The i.Dolls. Coincidentally (or so it seems), when Arisa locates the portal and enters it, she discovers that her happy-go-lucky alternate self is part of genuine J-pop group called The Dolls, and when Arisa returns to her friends, who are preparing to fight the Guru's army, she declares that she intends to give up her life of death and violence and take her doppelganger's place. What she doesn't realise is that she, and her kick-ass pals, belong there anyway, having been swapped with their alternate selves as children.
The plot for Danger Dolls is, to be frank, rather weak, doing very little new or of interest with its alternate dimension theme; however, I doubt very much that most viewers—the majority of whom I imagine will be male—will let the lack of originality stop them from having a good time, since the story allows for plenty of well choreographed fighting and swordplay from the girls, who are extremely cute, very flexible, and who wear outfits designed to please: over-the-knee socks with thigh straps, tight tops with strategically placed holes and PVC trim, matching elbow length PVC gloves, and short, pleated Sailor Moon-style skirts that reveal their underwear whenever they do high kicks and jumps. Directed by Shûsuke Kaneko (Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Azumi 2, Death Note), Danger Dolls moves along at a decent lick and never bores, although the swordplay is completely devoid of bloodshed, the fatal hacking and slashing severely in need of some juicy arterial spray. Next time, more gore please! 6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.
The plot for Danger Dolls is, to be frank, rather weak, doing very little new or of interest with its alternate dimension theme; however, I doubt very much that most viewers—the majority of whom I imagine will be male—will let the lack of originality stop them from having a good time, since the story allows for plenty of well choreographed fighting and swordplay from the girls, who are extremely cute, very flexible, and who wear outfits designed to please: over-the-knee socks with thigh straps, tight tops with strategically placed holes and PVC trim, matching elbow length PVC gloves, and short, pleated Sailor Moon-style skirts that reveal their underwear whenever they do high kicks and jumps. Directed by Shûsuke Kaneko (Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Azumi 2, Death Note), Danger Dolls moves along at a decent lick and never bores, although the swordplay is completely devoid of bloodshed, the fatal hacking and slashing severely in need of some juicy arterial spray. Next time, more gore please! 6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.
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