''Kite'' (also called ''A Kite'') is a 2014 South African

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

directed by Ralph Ziman, based on the 1998

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

of the same name by

Yasuomi Umetsu is a Japanese animator known for creating the ''Kite'' film series. Works Filmography *'' Megazone 23 Part II'' (1986) character designer/animation director *''Robot Carnival'' (1987) episode director/animation director, 'Presence' segment * ' ...

. The film stars

India Eisley India Joy Eisley (born October 29, 1993) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Ashley Juergens in the ABC Family television series ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'', Eve in the 2012 film '' Underworld: Awakening'', Saw ...

Callan McAuliffe Callan Ryan Claude McAuliffe (born 24 January 1995) is an Australian actor, known for his roles as Bryce Loski in '' Flipped'' and Sam Goode in '' I Am Number Four''. He appeared as young Jay Gatsby in the 2013 film ''The Great Gatsby''. From 2 ...

and

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

Synopsis

Society has degenerated into a slum where people have taken to kidnapping children and selling them to flesh cartels. A young woman named Sawa (India Eisley) has been pretending to be a prostitute in order to kill some of the cartel leaders, ultimately trying to reach the main leader, Emir, who had killed her parents. After a kill, she finds she needs to relax by taking a drug called "Amp", which also wipes her memories.

Cast

as Sawa *

as Oburi *

as Karl Aker * Carl Beukes as Vic Thornhill *

Deon Lotz Deon Lotz (born 20 July 1964)"Deon Lotz"
''TVSA: The South African TV Authority.'' Retrieved 20 ...

as Detective Prinsloo

Production

Pre-production

A live action adaptation of ''Kite'' was reported to be in various stages of

pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content start ...

for a number of years, with American film director

Rob Cohen Rob Cohen (born March 12, 1949) is an American director and producer of film and television. Beginning his career as an executive producer at 20th Century Fox, Cohen produced and developed numerous high-profile film and television programs, inc ...

attached as either director or producer. The film, which takes place in a post-financial collapse corrupt society, follows a girl who tries to track down her father's killer with help from his ex-partner. The content of the live action film is expected to be toned down from the original OVA. On 2 September 2011, David R. Ellis was hired to direct the remake. On 17 December 2012,

announced that he was the first actor to join the cast of Ellis's ''Kite'', with filming taking place in Johannesburg. Ellis died on 7 January 2013, before shooting started. On 3 February 2013, Ralph Ziman took over as director of the film; actors

and

subsequently joined the cast.

Filming

Filming wrapped in February 2013 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, South Africa.

Marketing

The 10-minute trailer for the film was released on 6 January 2014, followed by another trailer on 16 July.

Release

On 10 May 2013,

The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America pri ...

acquired worldwide distribution rights for ''Kite'' outside of the US, South Africa, and India. On 17 April 2014,

Anchor Bay Entertainment Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures and Starmaker Entertainment) was an American home entertainment and production company. It was a subsidiary of Starz Inc. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and sold feature films, television se ...

acquired the US and Canada distribution rights to the film. The film was released in 2014. It is the first film based on the anime film licensed in the US by Anime Works.

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported that 0% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 2.66/10. It also has a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

score of 19 out of 100 based on 7 reviews, indicating "overwhelming dislike". John DeFore of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' wrote on his review that "Ralph Ziman's ''Kite'' repackages an assortment of genre tropes into an instantly forgettable

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

-aping slog that would be unneeded even if Besson hadn't just returned to big action flicks himself." Peter Debruge of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' commented: "The super-controversial, often-censored story of an orphaned schoolgirl turned sex slave and

assassin Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

isn’t for everyone (and you can’t entirely blame those countries whose strict anti-child pornography laws deemed it wasn’t for anyone), although a slicker, less overtly kinky remake should have been catnip to ''

Sin City ''Sin City'' is a series of neo-noir comics by American comic book writer-artist Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in ''Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special'' (April 1991), and continued in ''Dark Horse Presents'' #51� ...

'' and ''

Sucker Punch A sucker punch (American English), also known as a dog shot, coward punch, king hit or one-punch attack ( Australian and New Zealand English) or cold-cock (American English), is a punch made without warning or while the recipient is distracted ...

'' fans. But judging by the disappointing results, this uninspired Anchor Bay release awaits homevid obscurity." Peter Howell of the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'' gave the film two out of four stars, commenting that "Ziman creates a visually interesting, graffiti-festooned landscape, there's a plenitude of action – including some truly goring death scenes – and Eisley and Callan McAuliffe as Oburi are both nicely appealing. But the tedium soon sets in, thanks mostly to a story that feels clichéd beyond bearing, including a final twist that is so 'never mind.'"

References

External links

* * * {{Kite film series 2014 films 2014 action films Dystopian films 2010s English-language films English-language South African films Films about human trafficking Films about orphans Films about revenge Films shot in Gauteng Girls with guns films Gun fu films Live-action films based on animated series Remakes of Japanese films South African action films