Directed by:
Cedric Nicolas-TroyanScreenplay:
Umair AleemCinematography:
Lyle VincentComposer:
Nathan BarrCast:
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Woody Harrelson, Miku Patricia Martineau, Michiel Huisman, 浅野忠信, Miyavi, Jun Kunimura, Patrick Newall, Gemma Brooke Allen (more)VOD (1)
Videos (2)
Reviews (9)
Japan is a land of contrasts, a place where ancient traditions coexist with the bustling energy of modern life. On one hand, there's the Japan of old, with its samurais, the Bushido code, and a shadowy underworld of the mafia. On the other, there's the vibrant, neon-lit Japan of today, brimming with anime and absorbing Western influences like a sponge. It's a cultural collision that can leave even the most seasoned traveler feeling like they've stumbled upon a sushi roll with a bit of everything thrown in. In this film, it feels like the director and screenwriter were among those foreigners, trying to cram every Japanese trope they'd ever heard of into one movie – and it didn't quite hit the mark. With borrowed elements from various action flicks such as Nikita, it struggled to find its own identity, leaving me skeptical from the get-go. Despite its shortcomings, I found myself oddly drawn to the film's often creative approach to violence. For maximum enjoyment, I recommend turning off your logic switch and embracing the chaos. / Lesson learned: Avoid touching anyone or anything affected by radiation! 3*-
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Some like cupcakes, some like wild girls, but it's a fact that this one is too wild – headshots are not spared, nor are pierced eyeballs and larynxes. Again, it's probably just my problem, but somehow I don't give a shit about those skinny girls who have ten armed men for dinner, especially when they're in the last stages of being a Litvinenko in the ICU. Anyway, another template strong female checked off, Netflix at half throttle again. But I send Mary Elizabeth Winstead a kiss on the forehead, she's a cutie.
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The miracle workers of 87North Productions have brought out another wonder of the mid-budget action genre. They repeat the tried-and-true formula of building the entire film on the foundation of casting and placing the lead actors at the core of the action sequences. But it simply works splendidly again. The trademark of 87Eleven choreographers and stuntmen is to incorporate pain and fatigue into the choreography of action sequences, but here they multiply the wear and tear of the material seen in Atomic Blonde. Whereas Charlize Theron was still a perfect killing machine in that film despite all of the bruises, Mary Elizabeth Winstead was brilliantly cast as the assassin with a short half-life in Kate. Her character thus fittingly makes far more mistakes in the fight scenes, catching one blow for every second one that she delivers, but she pursues her target with ever greater lethality. Every bruise, open wound, black eye and trace of blood on her exterior becomes a unit on the barometer of her “I'm going to die anyway” attitude. The individual action sequences put all of this to good use, thus bringing about an original effectiveness. At the same time, they take the best and most stylish aspects from the tradition of the Thai and Japanese schools of action movies and set design and combine them with the playful formalism of the western tradition. This female version of Crank is essentially completed with visual stylisation, where cinematographer Lyle Vincent and director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan create a form that, in its climactic moments, gives the impression of anime drawn with digital neon (with certain passages evoking Redline and Ghost in the Shell). All of this together makes Kate not only a magnificently captivating and infectiously exciting action flick with a damn cool action heroine, but also one of the highlights of the action genre in recent years.
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Kate is another entry in the line of feminist action flicks where the ends justify the means. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who I usually like, isn’t exactly bringing the sex appeal here, but she’s definitely tearing through a stylish, chaotic ride. It starts off with the energy of a Robert Rodriguez film but eventually settles into classic B-movie territory. Still, the Japanese gangster vibe gives it just enough flair to make it worth a watch, landing it a solid three stars from me.
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The neon lights of Tokyo, Wick style action and the excellent Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who looks just like a young Ripley. The screenplay is nothing original, but quite entertaining. Netflix wants their own movie with an action girl, so they should have it. So what if countless similar movies have been released recently? Thanks to the Japanese culture and their opinion of the Gai-Jin in general, Kate is really watchable. Great music. Thumbs up from me.
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