FilmSnobReviews

Title: Kate

MPAA Rating: R
Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jun Kunimura, Woody Harrelson
Runtime: 1 hour 46 minutes

What it is: Kate is a movie that feels familiar from the get-go: Kate (Winstead) is an assassin who wants out of the business. After she’s forced to kill a man with his kid nearby, she expresses her desire to move along toward a boring life. Her next job goes much more poorly: she misses wildly, gets disoriented, and chases after the target before crashing out and ending up in the hospital. After an escape from the said hospital, Kate embarks on a mission to find out who’s poisoned her, massacring dozens of goons on her path to justice while slowly dying. A wrench is thrown into her plans when she forms a bond with a young relative to one of her victims, Ani (Martineau). After a turn of events, Kate alters her plans to rescue Ani, killing anyone who gets in the way.

What we think: Kate is not a movie that seeks to break the mold: the plot is familiar, mostly predictable and cliches are abound. Essentially, it’s the latest in the expanding genre of John Wick clones, this one with a coat of paint that places it in Tokyo, with a largely Japanese cast, and a female lead. Here’s the thing, though: while by no means reinventing the wheel, it does all of these things well. Because this movie is…fun. The lead is charming, it moves at a respectable pace, and the action is fantastic. In a post-John Wick world where action movies are constantly upping the ante, Kate shines with its exciting action set pieces. Your enjoyment of Kate will probably hinge on your feelings toward the Assassin Kills A Lot of People During Quest for Revenge genre.

Our grade: B, Kate is an expertly-polished continuation on the genre, with its gory, over-the-top gun and knife fights carrying an otherwise subpar narrative into what is ultimately a fun romp through the streets of Tokyo. If you’re looking for something poignant, look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a fun bloodfest, there are plenty of worse movies you can spend your time with.