Kaizo Hayashi's CAT'S EYE is a very hip and cool looking film. Based on Hojo Tsukasa's popular 80's manga (comic) series, CAT'S EYE is the story of a trio of beautiful sisters who lead a normal life by day and become Tokyo's most notorious cat burglars at night. Being a huge fan of the manga series and of the subsequent animated series, I was looking forward to this big budget take on the series. CAT'S EYE the movie takes the basic concept but fails to live up to the source material. The casting is superb, you couldn't get a better cast. The trio of Norika Fujiwara (Rui), Izumi Inamori (Hitomi) and Yuki Uchida (Ai) definitely fit the roles and PVC costumes well. And what costumes they wear! Unfortunately the story is a total mess. The original story is tossed away and instead we are presented with a James Bond inspired ripoff complete with a mysterious crime syndicate/evil organization and their `Dragon Lady' leader played with hammy delight by Taiwanese actress Jiang Wenli. Ninja Master, Sho Kosugi's son Kane Kosugi appears as well playing, what else, a Ninja-like Assassin. This film borrows too heavily from the Joel Schumacher school of campy direction and what we get is half Batman & Robin and half John Woo's Once A Thief. And wait until you get a load of the ludicrous ending! A missed opportunity at what could have been a cult fan hit. The opening animation sequence was inspired, too bad the rest of the film couldn't follow suit.
