5.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
When her cop father is killed, a young woman tracks the murder with the apparent help of his ex-partner. The film based on the 1998 anime of the same name.
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, India Eisley, Callan McAuliffe, Carl Beukes, Deon LotzAction | 100% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Kite, the long-in-the-making film adaptation of a 1998 Anime film of the same name (also a recent Blu-ray release) is a visually frenetic but emotionally empty endeavor with a repetitive, wholly unoriginal story and a transparent final twist that most will have pegged early on. There's a hyper-realism at play, a nod to movies like Sin City and other style-over-substance flicks but here without any substance to go along with that style and, frankly, not enough in the way of juicy visuals, either, to make it worth one's over-the-top movie tripping time. It's sort of like a movie released in some stage of unfinished production and/or editing or at the most generous something made to be enjoyed on the purely visceral, external, eye candy level where amplified primary front colors, faded backgrounds, kinetic movement, and violence bordering on the cartoonish are the primary ingredients. But even those seem left unfinished, the movie never pushing too hard or too far and not making up for the difference in any meaningful way. In essence, it falls into something of a genre dead zone in which nothing really comes together and nothing really comes out beyond a seen-it-before bore of movement and empty ideas with a pretty girl dishing out a trite, by-the-book brand of justice in the middle of it all.
The girl.
Kite generally looks fantastic on Blu-ray. Anchor Bay's 1080p transfer, sourced form an HD video shoot, is admittedly very flat and glossy, which isn't necessarily a favorable visual tone for the movie's otherwise gritty and frenetic pace, but that's modern cinema. Facial features can range from effectively plastic (which seems a combination of makeup artist and filmmaker intent and video source related) and heavily complex. Surface textures and even other, more weathered faces offer a healthy allotment of area-specific detail. Colors are mostly (and deliberately) drained across backgrounds, favoring white, gray, and black, but there are splashes of intense color, mostly in the form of Sawa's pink hair, gloves, and boots, that are boldly aggressive and nicely vibrant. Black levels satisfy, noise is minimal-to-moderate, and flesh tones, while a little pale and pasty in places, usually look fine. Considering the source, there's little room for complaint here.
Kite flies onto Blu-ray with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is excellent in all areas of concern. Music is aggressive and effortlessly fills the room with big, ambitious beats both as part of the score and, in one scene, a blaring dance club that sends a pulsing low end and heavenly highs into the listening area with the sort of expert spacing and envelopment that are hallmarks of the best tracks. The movie proper isn't aggressively atmospheric, never fully brining every little location-specific sonic nuance to life, but this audio track does handle what effects it has in its arsenal with excellence, including dynamic stage directionality and precision placement. Action effects, such as gun shots and squishy gore, and delivered cleanly and accurately. Dialogue is focused in the middle and produced with an effortless natural flavor. Overall, this is a great lossless presentation from Anchor Bay.
The Making of 'Kite' (1080p, 25:18) is the only supplement included. The all-purpose piece features cast and crew discussing the core story, sourcing the original Anime, character basics, makeup and visual effects, the setting, production design, shooting locales, costumes, technical details, stunt work, actor performances, the good vibes on the set, and more.
Kite is a mad scientist amalgamation of other, and much better, movies, and rather than find all their best qualities in one place, it's the complete opposite, a movie devoid of purpose and feeling, one that goes through its motions and plays as heartless as something so wannabe kinetic can be. Audiences looking for a movie devoid of pretty much everything but a pretty face, comic book-like action, and a see-it-coming-from-the-beginning ending should enjoy this well enough, but most viewers will be better served watching one of the much better movies from which this one has drawn its inspirations. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Kite does feature strong video and audio. One making-of supplement is included. Skip it.
2015
2017
2010
2018
2009
2019
2008
1995
Combo Pack
2012
2019
2018
2015
2014
2014
2018
2015
2018
35th Anniversary Edition
1987
2014
2013