directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
written by Umair Aleem
When I watched this film a few weeks ago I considered giving it a video review, but as I wrapped it up I thought better of it; the channel feels much better suited to reviewing and creating awareness about movies that nobody watches. Kate, in contrast, has proven to be a bit of a hit. Still, while I don't feel the need to champion this film, I definitely would like to share my thoughts on it.
Kate is the story of the eponymous gun-for-hire (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who's basically been in the business since childhood, having been recruited and trained by her handler Varrick (Woody Harrelson). When one of her jobs involves her murdering a Japanese Yakuza boss in front of his daughter, she balks at her work and lies low in Japan. A year later she is called on for one last job, this time on the older brother of her last hit, but after a seemingly chance encounter at a bar, she suddenly feels dizzy and botches the job, only to realize she has been poisoned. She only has hours to figure out who poisoned her, and so begins a desperate race against the clock, in which she does all kinds of crazy things to get to the bottom of her own murder, like invade a Yakuza-infested restaurant, and even kidnap Ani (Miku Martineau), the niece of the Yakuza boss and the actual daughter of Kate's last victim. Will she find out before he time runs out?
One doesn't watch movies like this for plot or character development, so it's slightly easier to bear the fact that the script is all over the place, and that it's riddled from nearly start to finish with ridiculous tropes like the "twist" ending, the kidnap victim developing affection for the freaking kidnapper, etc. These are kind of par for the course.
The thing is, in a post-John Wick landscape, the question becomes what this film has done to set itself apart besides depict eyeball-searing violence. The 2014 sleeper hit John Wick basically revitalized the ultra-violet assassin genre not just with its violence but its absurd premise of a retired hitman coming out of retirement and going on a killing spree because his dog was killed and his car stolen. So far the makers of that series have milked three films out of the consequences of that premise but have helped it along with some amusing, if outlandish world-building. Kate doesn't have nearly that level of quirkiness if any at all.
One thing Kate gets right is its exotic setting; while an American in Japan isn't the most novel storytelling device (unlike, for example, a black American in Greece in Beckett), director Cedric Nicolas-Troyen makes the most out of his film's chosen setting with bright neon lights, juxtaposed against grungy streets and alleyways and finally the old-world austerity of sliding Japanese doors. John Wick co-director David Leitch serves as one of the co-producers here, and his influence is pretty apparent in the film's visual sensibility and fight choreography.
Another thing the makers got right was their choice of lead in Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who pulls off the role quite well, really throwing herself into a lot of the really gritty fight sequences, even the ones that involve her ass getting kicked, which is something of an inevitability when one fights an army of opponents. She's also a very sympathetic actress and is thus able to carry the film when the script, with its lack of logic, fails her. Of course, veteran actors like Woody Harrelson and Tadanobu Asano help the production along nicely, though newcomer Miku Martineau is somewhat grating as the niece whom Kate kidnaps.
All told, though, there's little about this film that really makes it stand out in a sea of John Wick clones, but since watching it is as simple as clicking the Netflix apps, well have at it.
6/10
