In the vein of a Hanna, we find Mary Elizabeth Winstead being mentored as a young girl by V, Woody Harrelson. She’s well taken care of and raised in the business of killing, assassination, and generally taking out some truly bad people. Decades go by and she and V become like a father and daughter. That is if the father issues assignments for assassinations and Kate (Winstead) takes them out.
Established immediately in Cedric Nicolas-Troyan’s stunning beautiful portrayal of the underbelly of Tokyo is the fact that V and Kate are a Yin and Yang. The two support each other and as he gets his assignments from above, she executes them—pun intended. That is, when their first assignment (that we experience) plays out, something changes. There is a child involved who becomes a witness and it is a rule that “the company” has stressed since the beginning. Kate now questions her associations and wonders if her next hit will be her last. Problem is that the next hit will be the one that could close the chapter on her story.
Kate left Osaka scarred and has arrived in a stunningly portrayed Tokyo a slightly different killer. She informs V that this will be her final bow and that she thanks him for everything he has done for her. That night, she meets a man… and winds up poisoned with a radioactive chemical that will kill her in 24 hours. Not only does she want revenge, but she wants answers. Neither will come easy in this city of lights and neon.
Along the way, she meets Miku Patricia Martineau’s Ani, a Tokyo local whose mob-working father has been killed and now appears her family is turning against her. All she has is Kate and the last thing Kate wants is a teenage girl tagging along when she is dying and in dire need to see this revenge through. An unlikely bond forms between the two—and it is not easy, to say the least. But as it is handled in Umair Aleem’s script, it is violently beautiful and wholeheartedly endearing.
Winstead is firmly in her element. What she teased in Birds of Prey explodes off the screen in Kate. This is an action heroine incarnate. She is as badass as they come and witnessing her dole out the violence and justice is a lesson in pure joy—that is if these movies are your cup of tea! She commands every inch of the frame and for the length of the movie, we cannot wait to see what she does next and where this story takes her next. It is a joyride of explosive tension, action as ballet, and brutal hand-to-hand combat that shows that Winstead may just be the cinematic action hero we have been looking for this whole time. She was right under our noses.
The way with which she combines empathy and electric vengeance is uncanny. This is a role that is as complicated as they come. She is on a mission, but she is not blind to the world around her and how that landscape influences her and alters her over the two hours of the movie is mesmerizing to witness. Only an actress of Winstead’s mettle could have pulled it off. I cannot imagine anyone else in the role and thank my lucky stars that I got to experience a film that is worthy of the actress’ immense and vast talents.
A welcomed surprise arises in Martineau. She is a firecracker as intense as they come. Her teenaged exterior gives way to a mini-Kate in many ways that is about as enjoyable to witness as Kate extolling her revenge throughout. The relationship between these two characters is the heart and soul of Kate and without it, this would be an entirely different beast. Martineau has an enormous future, and we cannot wait to see what she does next. The manner with which she navigates grief and justice is simply way beyond her years.
Cinematographer Lyle Vincent does extraordinary work with the worlds of both Osaka (at the beginning) and Tokyo (for the crux of the film). There is a hue to the Japanese city that Vincent captures, even in alleyways and dark corners where our protagonists hide and emerge with justice to extol. I don’t think the city has ever looked so stunning on screen.
Director Nicolas-Troyan has a firm control over every inch of this tale and the way he navigates the twists and turns is pure excellence. He, like some action helmers, never forgets character development and the ebbs and flows of emotions that permeate an action movie if it is left to breathe. He does just that, and so much more.
The Japanese cast is sublime. The helmer and his team have assembled a who’s who of Japanese talent that lends serious mettle to the story, with its interweaving themes of honor and respect of elders. Led by Jun Kunimura’s Kijima and Tadanobu Asano’s Renji, there is a real sense that this is a Japanese movie, that just happens to star an American starlet who knows who to deal in death. It all adds up to one of the more enjoyable Netflix actioner rides in some time.
Kate is a living breathing salute to the beauty of Tokyo, even with its violent undertow that contains souls that are living the life they know—and Nicolas-Troyan never judges their vocations. The film is a thrill a minute, but with heartbeats throughout that remind us that we are human.
Grade: A-