Kite (1998)

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Spoilers herein.This could have been a good movie. I'm particularly sensitive to the cinematic power of sexual exploitation — after all, that's pretty close to much of the cinematic experience. And child molesting adds great power to the experience.Also, I like Manga's sometimes honest approach to sexuality. Yes, its mostly prurient but its probably better to have sexual exploitation than the often humorous current repression. And anime sometimes goes where film has never gone before (graphic layout metaphors and object boundaries).This film has all that, and still sucks. It has no soul, no graphic identity, no intrinsic pathos. Are we supposed to simply feel abused?(it is a small thing compared to the general complaint about artlessness. But it completely destroys the child molestation bit to draw such huge breasts.)Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Director and storyboarder Yasuomi Umetsu's high octane visuals hang from KITE's basic, unoriginal storyline, but don't let that put you off this pleasing document.An assassin forced to kill and driven into occasional sexual servitude by perverted bosses is the basic set-up of this excuse for subversion (nothing wrong with that).That the assassin looks twelve (despite her concessionary breasts) is why KITE is questionable material in more conservative circles.The shoot-outs are beautifully realized and the sound effects are sharp and effective. Umetsu has a passion for the domino effect of violence as one grisly atrocity begets another until the Tokyo streets and subways resemble a hellish inferno.The erotic sequences, cut or softened in some versions, are as explicit as you can possibly get and gorgeously drawn.The 2004 Kitty Media DVD (the only one to get) is totally uncut, as is a German disc released a couple of year's ago (sans English subs).KITE is juvenile in spots, slow in others, but it's a good animated co-feature if you're thinking of screening Luc Besson's THE PROFESSIONAL for your comrades.

Great anime! Actions scenes, blood, and a decent story behind it. You'll know what I mean when you watch this movie when I say " What goes around comes around ". The end of the movie seems a bit abrupt but the overall quality of it makes up. 10/10.

When I first saw this film, it was the edited American version (its missing nearly 1/2 hour), and I instantly fell in love with it. I am a huge fan of anime, but I prefer actual movie format (like that of "Perfect Blue") as opposed to the OVA format (like the "Slayers" series). This movie had an excellent plot, rapid-fire animated sequences, and alot of violence and weapons-play. I personally didn't care much for the animator's style, but that is more than made up for in the fluidity of the frames. Watching the movie in its original Japanese will help answer alot of questions that, due to mouth-syncing shortcomings, were not really addressed. And, although "Kite" (pronounced "kah-ee-toe", if one were to read the katakana on the boxfront... pronouncing it like "kee-teh" will mean something entirely different in Japanese) is missing that 1/2 hour of footage, there is nothing really lost in the plot or motif. Anyone who does not watch this film superficially will put the missing details together by context clues throughout. Overall I say that if you can, get the video in its original Japanese, with subtitles in English if necessary...get the raw feel for the film. However, the full unedited version, if you're interested, is only available in Japan, and Hong Kong, I believe. The video and DVD formats used there aren't programmed to play on American players. So, if you want to see it uncut, you'll have to see it in the country of origin.