Danger Dolls, Japanese Girl Band Saves Earth

I have been meaning to review a serious movie on this blog.  One which speaks to humanity, and leaves us with inspiration and  goodness.  No frolic and guilty pleasure today....rather, serious reflection and scholarship, instead.  Hence 2014's "Danger Dolls" featuring a really cute Japanese all-girl band saving the world with swords and shapely bodies.  Rumi Hanai, Rina Takeda, Nana Seino, and Kayano are four beautiful actresses that share the title role in the most inspirational film of last year.  Clad in short skirts and thigh high boots, our superheroines are armed with swords and a desire to do what is right.

Earth has been purged of guns and nukes....but danger still lurks.  From a parallel universe, invaders are replacing Japan's political leaders in order to rule the world with nuclear weapons.  Enter a really cute quartet; Arisa, Ray, Mari, and Miki.  This all-girl band is really a group of superheroes.  The girl-band identity allows them cover to move about the country without garnering suspicion.  In reality, these four beauties are also from an alternate universe, and have come to earth to protect us from the invaders.  With their sword skills, they are able to unceremoniously dispatch the evil war-mongering invaders, and please their teen-aged fans as they perform as the "i Dolls."  But wait!  However syruppy sweet the first half of this film is.......we take a turn to the dark side.

Arisa begins to have doubts.  She wants to love someone (...an unknown man) and eschew violence.  Unbeknownst to Arisa, a mysterious man is falling in love with her.  To make matters worse, one of the other i Dolls has a secret lesbian crush on her.  The Dolls continue to puree the evil invaders.  The forces of evil then send the heavy hitters.  The final battle will have grim consequences as some of the Dolls will be slaughtered.  As the Dolls face this epic battle, their identities from an alternate universe come into play.  The ending of this film has resemblance to the final scene in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and will leave you wide-eyed and in mild shock.  Our four beauties seem to go down valiantly.....but are they really done?

The big surprise in this film is that it turned dark in the final 40 minutes.  Whatever comic book flare it had, that changed to a graphic novel flare.  As the Dolls eventually question their own actions, and begin to desire love over violence, consequences are exacted.  Whatever their fates, as one of the Dolls concludes, about their efforts, "..somewhere out there, someone fought for what was right."  If this is what we take away from "Danger Dolls," then my first couple of sentences of this blog entry, were not in jest.