09 Sep Kate Review

KATE

dir. Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Miku Martineau, and Woody Harrelson

Kate, the latest action film from Netflix, stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as an assassin who goes on a manhunt through the streets of Tokyo after being poisoned and left with only 24 hours to live. After killing a member of an influential crime family in front of the man’s daughter and older brother, the clan has finally caught up to Kate as she makes her way through neon lit alleys and homes, killing her way to the top for revenge. Along the way she befriends Ani, the daughter of the past target and together the two of them find purpose in Kate’s waning hours.

Netflix has become home to what used to be known at direct-to-video movies. Their films of late, with a few exceptions, have been middling, sit-on-the-couch-and-scroll-through-your-phone movies with little in the way of fresh storytelling or interesting characters. Where movies like Atomic Blonde do a great job of getting the audience to care and root for its main character, there’s not much in Kate that endears her to the viewer. We’re along the ride with Kate not because we care about what happens to her, but because she’s our only vessel into the story and this world. The weakness of the story can’t be laid at the feet of director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan as he labors to create a visually flashy world of underground mob bosses and Japanese nightlife. Its screenwriter Umair Aleem that fails to create an immersive world with rich characters and believable motivations that capture the attention and imagination of the audience. What we’re left with instead is what feels like a rip off of a rip off of any number of action flicks that makes for Tuesday night viewing that requires the barest of attention.

Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead (no stranger to action after tackling The Huntress in 2020’s Birds of Prey), Kate puts the actress at the front and center of the movie. Winstead does what she can with the role, delivering a performance that outshines the weak script. What cripples her is the lack of any real development of the character, leaving her (and everyone else on the screen) without any material to use. What this leads to is a number of underwhelming performances, Miku Martineau and Woody Harrelson included. Martineau, the weakest link of the film, alternately spends her time sulking about and hero worshipping Kate as Kate hauls her from scene to scene. Harrelson, while not on the screen often, fails to give the commanding performance we’ve seen from him in the past. Here, as Kate’s mentor and friend V, Harrelson serves to give a few pithy one liners and backstory exposition before things change in the third act. Harrelson’s V comes to forefront more, but still the paper thin character and weak writing does the actor no favors.

Helmed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Kate is the director’s sophomore film following 2016’s The Hunstman: Winter’s War. Unfortunately, Nicolas-Troyan doesn’t have much in the way of substance to use, working off a frustratingly bland screenplay that fails to measure up to other female assassin movies of similar ilk. Nicolas-Troyan labors to create a visually flashy world of underground mob bosses and Japanese nightlife, using interesting set pieces and dynamic camerawork to grasp and maintain the audiences attention. With frames that look seemingly lifted out of photographer Liam Wong’s book, Lyle Vincent’s cinematography is the strongest suit of the movie, using brilliant neon lights set against the black of nighttime Japan. Given the neon lighting and brooding titular character, one wonders how this film might’ve fared if reworked into a noir rather than an action film.

Apart from the stale storytelling, the second main detractor of the film are the uninspired action scenes. While still managing to be shot with keen lighting and directorial flare, the fights themselves are somewhat sloppy, with blocks, punches, and kicks telegraphed ahead of time. This is most noticeable in the first big fight scene at the home of Kazuo Sato, a member of the Kijima clan. Thanks to elevated fights scenes from films like The Raid or John Wick, the audience has come to appreciate a better class of hand to hand combat than what’s shown here. In Kate, the fights do nothing to maintain the viewer’s interest, beyond using them as a vehicle to check the messages on my phone.

Overall, as far as action films are concerned, Kate barely passes muster. An interesting enough premise is bogged down by the usual action tropes, sloppy fight choreography, underdeveloped characters, and a predictable twist that does little to surprise the viewer. In an era where solid mainstream female-lead high octane movies are still a rarity (this year’s Gunpowder Milkshake being a standout), Kate does nothing to bolster their ranks. While Winstead tries her hardest to shoulder the heft of the movie with strong acting, the story and supporting cast are too much an albatross for her to shine properly. Decent direction and excellent cinematography aside, Kate is an action film that can be viewed in the middle of the week after work while relaxing on the couch. Kate hits Netflix September 10th.

Review by Darryl Mansel