![]() While a classic-enough vengeance plot in theory, a trailer for the film that dropped this month has viewers questioning who decided that, after a year of violence against the Asian community, a movie about a white woman going on a murder spree against the Japanese mob was possibly a good idea. ![]() In the process, she befriends the daughter of a former target and gets advice from co-star Woody Harrelson’s character. Netflix’s upcoming Tokyo-set action flick “Kate” tells the story of an assassin - played by “Birds of Prey” star Mary Elizabeth Winstead - who, after being poisoned on the job while attempting to kill a member of the yakuza, decides to spend her final 24 hours taking revenge against the Japanese crime syndicate. The movie’s not even out, but some reviews are already in, and commentators want to know: Who greenlighted this? Joe Exotic’s doctors suspect he has bladder cancer - but he’s refusing treatment: report Producer accused of trying to halt release of Netflix movie ‘The White Tiger’ ![]() Tom Brady, Netflix talking ‘Greatest Roast of All Time’ comedy special Instead, Kate's tone is more John Wick than Nobody, something not all of its critics enjoyed.Chris Rock slaps back at Will Smith with these vicious jabs on Netflix special That is not to say that Kate takes itself too seriously, but that the Mary Elizabeth Winstead vehicle is not as campy about its humor as some of its competitors. Kate’s issues with reviewers could stem from the fact that, unlike the more tongue-in-cheek Gunpowder Milkshake, the action-thriller remains relatively straight-faced throughout its increasingly ludicrous story. But there's a visual wit and visceral energy to it that other recent efforts struggle to find.” ” Subtle it's not: Kate is red-meat storytelling, all broad outlines and crunched bones. “ A serviceable Friday night choice that gets the job done just fine, enough to turn it into a hit for the streamer, but not quite enough to insist that anyone actually bothers to make time for it." " Kate has some decently fun action, despite certain trite directorial choices, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead serving as the movie's main bright spot." The film really wants us to care about the title character, but fails to make us do so.” “ The film could be forgiven for its tedious and predictable plot if it had some exhilarating action, but unfortunately, the fight scenes are rushed and leave Kate looking more like the Terminator than an actual human being whose body is gradually shutting down… Unfortunately, the story falls flat with tiresome tropes and faltering action scenes. Even the title character feels like an extension of star Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s other vengeful assassin character from Birds of Prey." (It is actually directed by a human, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan.) It’s a little bit Extraction, a little bit Gunpowder Milkshake. " You’ve seen Kate before in other movies, which a cynic might suspect is exactly the idea: It feels like a title cooked up by the Netflix algorithm solely for the purpose of populating a Because You Watched row. And it’s somewhat obvious to Nicolas-Troyan that the audience doesn’t really care.” “ The body count becomes numbing… The film tries to make the audience care about Kate’s possible redemption… it’s beyond obvious where this is going, that all this talk of family will sour into betrayal and eventually, a climax that postures as an emotional revelation. So what do the negative reviews for Kate say? Instead, reviewers have noted that earlier action thrillers like Charlize Theron-starring Atomic Blonde featured strikingly similar heroines, while the recent Gunpowder Milkshake even saw star Karen Gillan playing not only an assassin going up against former employers but one who befriended a young girl to humanize her killer character (as Kate does in this Netflix effort). However, this conceit is not the element that many critics have singled out as being unoriginal in the case of Kate. It is hard to deny that the plot of Kate is more than a bit derivative, with the premise of an antihero being given a brief window for vengeance before their death already being exploited by 2006’s wildly underrated Jason Statham cult oddity Crank. Related: Fall 2021 Movie Preview: Every Movie Releasing (And Where To Watch Them)
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