What I Think About Netflix's Kate

Netflix just released a new female assassin film (yes, another one) featuring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who has a notable career with films such as Birds of Prey, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Sky High, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Live Free or Die Hard, and more. The premise is that a woman (Kate) trained from childhood by her mentor, Varrick (Woody Harrelson), to be a dangerous assassin is poisoned and left with 24 hours to live. Following this revelation, the main character Kate (Winstead) spends her last hours hunting down the yakuza boss responsible for her soon-to-be death.

What may turn people off to this movie is that 1). It adds to the hardcore female assassin fatigue because we’ve had several at this point and they’ve had similar plots so far... and 2). It’s so much like the John Wick’s, Kill Bill’s, Atomic Blonde, etc that have come before it, and 3). the plot may come across as flimsy to some.

However, with these in mind, I enjoyed watching it. I thought it was a solid movie and if my family or some friends asked me to watch it again, I would. I don’t think that every movie needs a complex plot with a ton of twists and turns. Of course, there needs to be enough to keep me interested and guessing, but we often expect Oscars out of every movie we watch. However, that is pretty unrealistic, and it ruins the experience of simply trying to enjoy the experience of a film viewing. So, expect nothing too wild from this film as far as the plot goes.

But Mary Elizabeth Winstead does a great job in her role and the action is highly entertaining as well. I found the fight choreography, in many places, to be much slower-paced than I expected. Especially after watching kung-fu and high-speed-fist-throwing action films, I expect the choreography to be swift and clean to where I believe the fighters are top-notch. While this is what I want, it can become pretty unbelievable. It’s even worse when they don’t sell the hits. There is such a thing as too clean, and at that point, it becomes too obvious that everything is choreographed. So, when I saw the slower, grimier fight choreography of Kate, I found it to be a delicate touch.

On the point of slower, grimier fight choreography, Kate also has plenty of “oops” moments, by which I mean there are several moments where someone messes up and it costs them. And there’s also a heavy element of “use whatever you can find, do whatever you have to do.” Winstead really sells the urgency in her fights, especially the kitchen fight scene where she and her opponent using every piece of the kitchen (including the fridge door) to kill the other. It’s much dirtier than, for instance, Gunpowder Milkshake.

And since I’ve brought up Gunpowder Milkshake, I’ll say now I think Kate is what Gunpowder Milkshake should have been as far as action goes.

Oh, and a quick note, you wonder how Kate makes it so far with all the hits and wounds she accumulates across the film...

Anyway, as opposed to Gunpowder Milkshakes‘ resident child actor, Kate suffers a little from theirs. Miku Martineau plays Ani, a young girl being hunted by her family (the yakuza), the same people pursuing Kate. She’s a preteen with a rebellious streak and a distaste for her life and family. That is, until she meets Kate and joins her on her killing spree.

The thing is that Martineau does a good job acting. The problem is that Ani adjusts way too quickly to seeing death and killing herself. Ani is just annoying outside the moments where she is actively humanizing Kate. She falls into the irritatingly, overused "rebellious, overly angsty teen that tries to be big and bad" trope. It's done too often. There are some pleasant moments littered throughout where you can see the hardened Kate let down her guard and you go “awww!” These were her strongest moments. My favorite is when Ani kills for the first time and she has a panic attack, leading Kate to calm and center her. Both acting-wise and within the plot, it works super well.

Woody Harrelson did his thing. He didn’t have an enormous presence in the film and he wasn’t a memorable villain and he doesn’t have to be. It is a simple mentor-to-betrayer plotline with him.

There is a nice twist at the end. As the story wraps up, the film seems predictable, but it isn’t completely. However, it’s a nice touch until it isn’t. Then it all wraps up too neatly (as it has too, I guess).

Overall, Kate was a fun watch. If you love a bullet storm, hardcore action film, this will make for a nice movie night with your friends or yourself.