Just perfect...

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Set in a future where the state has effectively collapsed after a financial meltdown where cartels trade children and what law enforcement there is is corrupt or ineffective an eighteen year old girl is determined to bring down 'The Emir', the leader of one such cartel. She is Sawa, the daughter of a police officer who was orphaned when her parents were murdered when she was twelve. She is looked after by her father's former partner, Lieutenant Karl Aker. Sawa is also hooked on a drug known as 'Amp', which blocks much of her memory. As Sawa works her way through the cartel, Aker cleans up any evidence that could point to her. After one confrontation she meets Oburi, a young man who tells her that they were once friends.I must say that I have not seen the anime that this film was based on so can't say how this treatment compares. That said I enjoyed this a bit more than I'd expected given its rating here. When we first see Sawa, wearing a vivid pink wig and watching clothes I wondered if perhaps the creators were just a little too keen to make the film look like a live action anime; thankfully that wasn't the case… if anything it looked too grim rather than excessively bright. The story might not be the most original but as revenge thrillers go this wasn't bad. India Eisley does a solid job as Sawa; a character that is tough but still has enough vulnerability to make the viewer think she is in real danger much of the time. This clearly isn't Samuel L. Jackson's best film but he does a fine job as Aker. The rest of the cast are decent enough although some are clearly better than others; many of the villains are a bit too over-the-top but they never last very long. The action scenes were plentiful and fairly brutal with plenty of blood spilt and a few wince inducing moments. There is a twist that many viewers will probably spot in advance but thankfully it is neither too obvious nor is it too unlikely. Overall a decent enough revenge thriller; not a must see but worth checking out if it is on TV or in the DVD bargain bin.

I thought it was OK. I think a lot of people thought this was a terrible movie. I've seen worse films than this. It's kind of a science fiction in that its set in the future-when things have completely gone to seed as if the world is covered by a single huge run down city full of gangs like 1980's "The Warriors" set in NYC. Maybe because it didn't have a budget of 999 trillion dollars people didn't respond to it. I thought there was enough 'SF Tech' in it to make it a believable SF picture. The acting was OK-its uncommon that a teenage gal is the main character in any kind of SF film so that was different. Plenty of fight scenes so that should appeal to a lot of people-and plenty of grit in general in it also. I can't remember seeing it advertised anywhere when it came out. Maybe I just missed it in the cinemas. Would work better on a large screen- kind of a tight squeeze on a TV. The only thing I can really criticize about it was the film was too drab in terms of the colors of the surroundings it took place in. 50 shades of gray is still better than watching grass grow.

This savage, exciting, low-budget, revenge thriller draws its inspiration from Yasuomi Umetsu's violent Japanese anime actioneers. When you watch this nimble, 89-minute opus, you'll find yourself thinking about super-charged movies that Luc Besson either directed or produced, such as "La Femme Nikita," "Columbiana," and "District B13." Kinetically staged by Ralph Ziman, primarily known for "The Zookeeper" and "Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema," "Kite" delivers non-action with a minimum of exposition and pulsating soundtrack. A gorgeous-looking teenage girl, Sawa (India Eisley of "Underworld: Awakening"), searches obsessively for the dastard who murdered her parents. She carries out her quest for vengeance with the help of a police officer, Lieutenant Karl Acker (Samuel L. Jackson of "Pulp Fiction"), who knew her mom and dad. He isn't pleased with her audacious vigilantism. Zimon thrusts us into the thick of the action in the opening scene as a despicable Russian, Mikhal Kratsov (Jaco Muller) hauls Sawa into an elevator where he tries to have bang-up sex with her. An elderly woman in the elevator with them complains about their behavior, and Kratsov smashes her glasses. Sawa kicks him in the face. Brandishing a huge looking automatic pistol, she blasts him at point blank range. Although she blows a hole in his hand, she isn't content to let him get off that easily and obliterates his noggin with another shot from her 9 mm. Our heroine stays strung out on a narcotic called Amp, and nothing comes between her and her quarry. When Acker isn't around to watch over her, Oburi (Callan McAuliffe of "The Great Gatsby") shows up and rescues her a couple of times. Oburi is an athletic type who leaps and lunges around in Parkour and always has an appropriate weapon for every occasion. Basically, Sawa masquerades as a hooker to track down the Emir who operates a flesh trafficking ring. Society has broken down since an economic collapse and state security is a joke. Gangs terrorize the streets and abduct children that they sell to an international cartel run by the Emir. Sawa displays no qualms about killing anybody associated with the Emir. The action sequences are impressive and Ziman has a knack for orchestrating some terrific shoot-outs. After watching this sizzling thriller, I want to see how it stacks up with Yasuomi Umetsu's Japanese anime outings. Sawa's adversaries are repugnantly evil to the core. No matter what corner these hellions have her shackled up to, she exhibits resourcefulness galore in a pinch. She slices up her opponents without mercy, whacking off one villain's head, shoving a skewer through another guy's head, and blasting the brains out of a number of rugged looking gunmen. Mind you, Sawa doesn't go unscathed; she takes a multiple beatings along the way and sheds blood. India Eisley makes a sympathetic but take-no-prisoners heroine. Samuel L. Jackson lingers more often than not on the periphery of the bloodshed, but he still makes an important contribution to the narrative. You'll enjoy this lean, mean, slam-bang thriller. "Kite" was lensed on atmospheric locations in South Africa.

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.