Kite 2014

Kyle Smith, New York Post: A kill-a-minute gore-a-thon whose twist is so obvious your grandma Edna will see it coming, "Kite" never gets off the ground. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: The teenage assassin thing has become a tired cliche whose creators unconvincingly cite female empowerment to defend this tackiest of fetishes. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Bloodthirsty young women are no longer novel enough that this watered-down revenger can expect us to pay attention without bringing something new to the table. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: Ziman struggles mightily to weave hot-girl assassin shtick, trendy exploitation style and future-shock grimness: The default setting seems to be whatever you've seen in a hundred other movies (and heard - the electronic score is pure digital Muzak). Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Ziman pretends to be empowering his young heroine by putting a gun in her hand and tough words in her mouth. But there's something deeply discomforting about his camera's fetishistic leering. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times: Nasty for nastiness's sake, "Kite" drags to achieve its brief running time; you wonder whether the slow motion is an artistic device or a stalling tactic. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: If you're satisfied with pure bloody action, Kite is the ticket. If you want a little emotional and intellectual engagement, try somewhere else. Read more

Katherine Vu, Village Voice: In a film that pits the heroine directly against the sexualization of young women, the camera's gaze itself feels awfully exploitative. Read more