Kite

As the saying goes, not many surprises to be found here, but still a somewhat decent low budget effort. Formula is well known and with an added gravitas such as Samuel L. Jackson, you give the movie some weight (it's not like he can help all the flaws this has, but he's always mesmerizing to watch).

The other actors are mixed bunch. The action (choreography) though is pretty good. Always taking into account what movie that is. There is also a lot of blood and drug use fyi, though I'm sure you can read that in the rating explanation too. There are not many shades of gray character wise, you do get them in color scheme of the picture though. For some it might be a bit too dark of course.

If you don't watch the movie until the end, you have all rights to give it a bad rating, but if your standard is to rate a movie without knowing all of it, should you share your opinion in the first place?

I wanted to quit during 'Kite', I admit. It seemed like a movie that kids & teens could like in a dystopian Sci-Fi setting, which looked stereotypical - graffitis, smoke, damaged vehicles, walls with bricks coming lose, setting didn't look real enough. Some costumes looked too childish. Literally every actor besides Samuel L. Jackson a no-name. Fighting scenes looked staged, punching sounds included.

But then, the plot has some nice surprises and Samuel L. Jackson played well as always, carrying the movie a lot. The 'child' actors India Eisley and Callan McAuliffe had alright performances.

The anime 'Kite' on which this is based on just has a good story, they just failed on too many levels to make it an even better movie. There are scenes which I will remember that were just plain bad or too standard but also ones that I will have a positive memory of.

For the people who know the anime from 1998 this movie probably is a disappointment, but for people who don't, they get to see a well developing plot.

The story is based on a Japanese manga/anime that I intend to see momentarily. Without seeing it, though, I can hardly compare it with the film, so my review is for the movie as a standalone.

The first feeling I got when I started watching the movie is that it must be a Luc Besson film. It felt the same way: international cast, a very young female killer and the dreary violence that is usually met in European films. I am still amazed that it is a US/Mexico production.

The acting was also particular. I wouldn't call it bad, just different. India Eisley is incredibly cute, but she is playing this kid killer who wants to avenge her parents. She is an addict for a drug that erases the memory, so she doesn't even remember the parents in the name of which she exacts revenge. She is not a perfect killing machine, instead she is always close to death and only luck and sometimes a mysterious boy are keeping her alive in several occasions.

The world is somewhat similar to the first Mad Max movie, only not a desert, but what is left after "the banks fell and the governments collapsed". Slightly more appropriate for the times than an post apocalyptic world or one caused by shortages of oil.

Overall I enjoyed watching it. The action scenes felt very real, and even if the girl had fighting skills, most of the time it was just about surviving or running away and she got her ass handed to her more than once. No fancy wire-fu, no huge explosions, no rain of bullets. The twist at the end was pretty obvious, I practically waited for it since the beginning of the film, and the boy's character was full with inconsistencies, yet these were not enough to make me regret watching.

Bottom line: the imperfections of the film, the way it is always slightly off recipe, made it worth watching. It is not a masterpiece, but certainly one of the (re)new wave of film making, where actors and directors are starting experimenting again and expressing artistic vision. More of this, please! And India... she's only 21, but she looks like jail bait. The contrast of her childish beauty to her character was another great asset of this movie.

Visually they have created the dark world. Futuristic yet chaos full world. Not so bad not really good. A one time watchable for pass your time or you need an action movie. Art director, VFX artists, lighting .... The technical team did a wonderful job. Visually it was really good. The mood, camera everything just make us feel like we are in that world. The underworld vibe was there. Anyway I skipped lot, not because the movie was bad because I think I was not in a mood for the action. But giving this movie a chance was not a bad idea. The performance was good by everyone. But still it's not for everyone. Even if you like action movies, this one may not be your taste. So my opinion is give a chance and kill it kind of movie.

Seeing a 4.3 rating on IMDb, I did expect that something must be wrong with Kite, but found it to be an overall good movie.

Story, Acting, Camera and Setting are without major flaws, and within the genre the story is quite believable and has no obvious holes.

The ending even holds some surprises, and there are a number of memorable scenes.

So why the low rating? My theory is that there are a number of factors:

• The mainstream audience may have a problem with the soundtrack which can be annoying if are not at least a little into dubstep (I found it a prefect fit for this movie)

• To purists the characters may be not cool enough; they are too vulnerable, too human and fail too often be bad-ass uberheroes

• The mainstream may find the setting too dark, while purist may not like the brightening elements in the story

It might have been a masterpiece if the film makers would not have tried to please the mainstream. It almost seems as if there was a struggle between those forces who wanted to appeal to a wide audience and those who wanted to go to the extreme. The mixed result seems to keep many people unsatisfied, although I regard it as well above average.

I can recommend to watch it and make up your own mind. I believe that "Kite" will be more appreciated over time and find its audience.