Kite

Name: Kite
Genre: Action, Drama
Released: October 10, 2014
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 19

2014

METASCORE

Overwhelming dislike based on 7 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 24 Ratings

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2.7

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2.7	Your Score
2.7	User Score Generally unfavorable reviews based on 24 Ratings

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Kite

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Movie Details & Credits

Anchor Bay Entertainment | Release Date: October 10, 2014 | R

Summary: Sawa (India Eisley) is a young woman living in a corrupt society where crime and gangs terrorize the streets. When Sawa's mother and policeman father are found victims of a grisly double homicide, she begins a ruthless pursuit for the man who murdered them. With the help of her father's ex-partner, Karl Aker (Samuel L. Jackson), and aSawa (India Eisley) is a young woman living in a corrupt society where crime and gangs terrorize the streets. When Sawa's mother and policeman father are found victims of a grisly double homicide, she begins a ruthless pursuit for the man who murdered them. With the help of her father's ex-partner, Karl Aker (Samuel L. Jackson), and a mysterious friend from her past (Callan McAuliffe), she becomes a merciless teen assassin, blasting her way through the dark world of human trafficking only to uncover a devastating truth.… Expand

Director: Ralph Ziman

Genre(s): Action, Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 90 min

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Critic Reviews

Katherine Vu

Oct 7, 2014

In a film that pits the heroine directly against the sexualization of young women, the camera's gaze itself feels awfully exploitative. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Jul 20, 2014

At the very least, Kite could have given Jackson some scenery to chew. Read full review

Kyle Smith

Oct 9, 2014

A kill-a-minute gore-a-thon whose twist is so obvious your grandma Edna will see it coming, Kite never gets off the ground. Read full review

John DeFore

Aug 20, 2014

Ralph Ziman's Kite repackages an assortment of genre tropes into an instantly forgettable Luc Besson-aping slog that would be unneeded even if Besson hadn't just returned to big action flicks himself. Read full review

David Ehrlich

Oct 8, 2014

Although the live-action Kite has been graphically desexualized, the anime’s exploitative attitude nevertheless prevails, made all the more prominent by the film’s refusal to engage with it directly. Read full review

Ben Kenigsberg

Oct 9, 2014

Nasty for nastiness’s sake, Kite drags to achieve its brief running time; you wonder whether the slow motion is an artistic device or a stalling tactic. Read full review

Elizabeth Weitzman

Oct 9, 2014

As for Jackson, he strolls through the nonsensical story so casually, one suspects his mind is on other things — like what he’ll do with his paycheck. He has probably already moved on. We’ll happily do the same. Read full review

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User Reviews

ikazmi

Nov 30, 2014

I don't get why there is so much hate for this anime adaptation. while the movie does 'censor' some of the more disturbing aspects of the anime (resulting in some adjustments to the story) and brings down how much blood is spilled, the adaptation remains mostly true to its anime origin.I don't get why there is so much hate for this anime adaptation. while the movie does 'censor' some of the more disturbing aspects of the anime (resulting in some adjustments to the story) and brings down how much blood is spilled, the adaptation remains mostly true to its anime origin.

The acting is mostly good, the visual styling is pretty decent (inspired by/based on Blade Runner from the looks of it), the environment is dark (not in terms of lighting) and gloomy and the fight scenes, while not over the top, are believable.

All in all, I think this movie was way better than the cringeworthy adaptation of Speed Racer as it focused more on conveying the story of the original anime instead of getting stuck on fancy CGI. Any fans of the original anime would probably find this movie enjoyable.… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

NerdConsultant

Oct 23, 2014

what dull waste of a film it just fails on every level poorly shot, poorly acted and poorly translated from it's source material . if the american studios keeps wanting to make films based on anime they need to go a lot more all out and pay a lot closer attention than they did with all 5 ofwhat dull waste of a film it just fails on every level poorly shot, poorly acted and poorly translated from it's source material . if the american studios keeps wanting to make films based on anime they need to go a lot more all out and pay a lot closer attention than they did with all 5 of the films they have to date… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

karinka20

Jan 20, 2016

The movie is bad, and not in a good way. Bad because it wants to be taken seriously. I don't mind the slight differences or take on the source material in a way to compensate for the anime's more adult related themes. However, it falls about on every level. Acting's bad, characterThe movie is bad, and not in a good way. Bad because it wants to be taken seriously. I don't mind the slight differences or take on the source material in a way to compensate for the anime's more adult related themes. However, it falls about on every level. Acting's bad, character development's bad, camera work, editing, and the overall plot. Sawa in this movie is completely uninteresting. She's weak in regards to physical strength, mentally, emotionally, and her motivation for everything she does is confusing. She's just not cool. Not to mention Oburi is irrelevant. This movie deserves a 0 but the only reason why I gave it a two is because of Sam L Jackson. He's the only cool thing about this monstrosity.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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