The emotional core of Kite is, unfortunately, also absent here. It’s an action movie with dull, uninteresting action, done without any artistry or style. The excesses of the scene in the anime are unrealized here, rather than having a truck smash through a subway line, instead there is merely a man falling through a plate glass window, which is a required shot in every action movie it seems. The quick cutting and lack of colour, as well as a lack of any over the top violence or gore make it a generic action movie shootout, rather than the insane, over the top setpiece it was in the OVA. Notably, the infamous bathroom fight is far less exciting or impactful than the one from the anime. Action scenes feel very lifeless as a result, they lack any real impact or excitement. The effects used to depict some of the more graphic sequences, like Sawa shooting a hole through a man’s hand and blowing his head into little bits, are done with very cheap, obvious computer effects. Action scenes on the other hand are cut far too quickly for any real weight to develop, detracting from the excitement and intended to hid the film’s low budget. Dialogue scenes are shot in flat shot-reverse shot, most of the shots are framed in a utilitarian manner with little visual interest or creativity, and the colour pallet is heavy on greys and washed out. Subtly is not something Kite is known for, so it makes little sense to shy away from depicting violence.Ĭompounding this is the cinematography, which is workman-like and devoid of any real artistry. Rather than being suspenseful, this is dull, taking far too long to reach the point. It will just hang on a shot of a car, waiting, until finally a splatter of blood sprays the windscreen. ![]() Additionally, whenever the film wants to imply violence, it takes far too long for the gunshot to go off or the stabbing sound effect to play. These take up time, and grind developing action to a halt. The task of adapting a 45 minute OVA to a 85 minute movie means that there is a fair amount of padding, largely in the form of panning shots over dancers in a club, people playing soccer, and other sights of the streets. Unfortunately, the movie can’t seem to get either of those elements right. ![]() One: an emotional journey for Sawa as she gains the strength to leave the employ (and drugging) of her handler (Akai in the OVA, changed to Karl for the film), and two: a blood soaked action movie. However, the film has finally been released, and the fruit of that laboured production is well, less than stellar.Īt its core, Kite is two things. A live action adaptation has long been in the works, beset by constant production delays and issues. The dark, hyper-violent tale of Sawa, a schoolgirl who’s parents were brutally murdered and she is now an assassin, tracking down and killing sex traffickers in the gritty underworld of a post-economic collapse society.
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