Kite ( Rated R )
Kite is a rather obscure anime from the 90's, it is well known for being brutal and for extremely graphic sex scenes. However, at its core it had a fairly interesting story, with some brilliant action sequences. If you are a fan of the original anime, this will be a bit of a mixed bag. The story retains the most important elements of the original while moving the story to a setting reminiscent of The Road Warrior. The story is set in a distant future where the economy has collapsed, years after her family was murdered Sawa has grown into a very capable assassin. Sawa is out for revenge with the help of a cop Karl Acker, and a mysterious man from her past.
The rewritten storyline is actually intriguing, they have added many new elements and made the film far more of a post-apocalyptic thriller than the anime was. The lead actress playing Sawa surprised me, her performance was very good. She played the damaged and traumatized Sawa quite effectively, she also was fairly capable in the films brief action scenes. Samuel L Jackson gave a solid performance, though it was nothing out of the norm for him. Finally, Callan Mculiffe plays Oburi, A friend from Sawa's past, his performance was good, but nothing spectacular. The best element in this film is India Eisley's phenomenal performance, she managed to portray great strength while showing such vulnerability.
The film does have several scenes that pay homage to the original anime; however with the exception of the opening scene they fall rather flat. The film also does not feature any of the graphic sex scenes found in the anime, but I will say that it is not a bad thing to remove the pornographic content as they were the weakest element of the anime. The main story element that used the sexual content, is still present in the film in a slightly different manner. The way the movie was shot is very erratic, but added to the stories presentation. The sets also did seem very authentic and didn't feel cheap or fake, which added to the atmosphere of the film.
The movie honestly had a good bit going for it, but what held the anime together was the great action scenes. Something this film clearly lacks, while the first two sequences show promise and the brutal violence found in the anime. What follows are some pretty flat and uninspired action scenes, the restroom shootout, for example, was a particularly dull affair; which is a shame as it is one of the standout sequences found in the anime, the stunts and hand to hand combat just felt off. It lacked impact and any real visceral flair, to top that off the end of the film lacks a satisfying finale. The film has some very gory deaths, the visual effects are stellar with great use of real practical effects and minimal CGI. The film does not skimp on the violence, in fact, it may have more blood and guts than the anime did.
If you enjoy gritty, dark and twisted stories, you may well enjoy this film; the story's twists are interesting, and even though this is an adaptation they were done in such a manner that felt original. I never expected it to be better than the source, what I did expect was for it to bring the story and fantastic action scenes to life. While the story was translated fairly well, the action scenes just left a sour taste in my mouth. What made it worse is that the opening of the film showed such great promise in terms of bringing the anime's best scenes to life. I will say that the film does give India time to shine, both as a promising actress and action star. She had great depth, and did show she was capable of delivering as an action performer. It is just a shame that the director, could not stage the action well enough to deliver the goods. There are far worse live action adaptions of anime, DragonBall Evolution comes to mind. It just feels like such a missed opportunity when you have the pieces that could have made this so much more than it is. As it stands it is an entertaining flick, it also shows great potential in India Eisley, and for that alone, it is worth watching.
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