Darna, the Philippine equivalent of Wonder Woman, battles the alien Planet Women, who have come to Earth to figure out a way to bring the whole planet across the galaxy to use it to house their excess population, coincidentally killing all people on Earth along the way. The colorful Planet Women (each is a different hue and wears different, brightly colored clothes) plot to kidnap famed scientists and put them to work devising the means of propulsion for the planet, but their plans get a start by stealing the brain of the villager Ramon (Zandro Zamora), boyfriend of the lame girl Narda (Vilma Santos), whom God grants the power to turn into the mighty Darna, and she takes the fight to the Planet Women, working through confrontations with each until a climactic battle against their leader, Elektra (Rosanna Ortiz), on which the fate of the world depends. Santos is appealing in both roles, as the rather grumpy and bossy Narda, who nevertheless does care for her boyfriend and love her little brother, and as the self-confident, perhaps too confident, Darna, especially as she becomes enthralled by the fun to be had dancing at a party. The effects are weak, and there’s a misstep in the storyline involving Elektra and Ramon that unfortunately undercuts sympathy for the latter (unless there’s an explanation missing from the print I watched), but overall the movie is quite fun.

A detailed description of the plot can be found in a post on the blog Dead Man’s Brain.

  Mildly recommended. Otto judiciously thinks this movie is OK, but not great.

Movie 403 for 2021.