Kate is a new original production from Netflix, this time about paid killers. How is it going?
The title character, Kate, is a paid assassin acting on behalf of a mysterious organization in Japan. During one of the missions, on the orders of his superiors, he breaks his basic rule and kills the target in front of the child. This makes the heroine go through a crisis and decides to leave the profession after the next contract. However, she is not given the opportunity to complete the task, and during the escape, she weakens and wakes up in the hospital, where it turns out that as a result of poisoning with polonium-204 she has less than a day of life left. So he embarks on a bloody journey through Tokyo to discover the identity of his killer and complete the final mission, and along the way, he befriends the teenage niece of his main target.
How innovative, revealing ... Oh no, wait, I've seen it somewhere. Several times. For the first time more than a quarter of a century ago, when Jean Reno took the young Natalie Portman under his wing as a professional Leon and taught her a killer trade. Colombiana told a similar story, though from a slightly different perspective, and this is only the beginning of a rather long list. Kate not only does not bring anything innovative, but also reheats this cutlet simply poorly. To this let's add a leaky scenario (admittedly, polonium-210 was used in the attack on Litvinenko, not 204, but it died 23 days, not hours ... maybe some chemist will comment in the comments?) And we get a film whose plot twists can be seen from a kilometer, and the greatest surprise is the stupidity of the heroes.
The film is largely saved by action scenes, but ... it was already somewhere else. You can see in it the hand of the team responsible, for example, for John Wick and Atomic Blonde, but once that it is not their most outstanding work, and two, somehow it's all bland and gloomy. And normally it would not be a particular disadvantage, if it were not for the fact that it stands terribly in contrast to the scene of the action. Apart from the Yakuza itself, Japan is terribly over-colored in this production. Is it a scene of the heroine's escape by car, or a guest performance of a quite specific band-Maid band - it all shows this slightly crazy side of the inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun, and in my opinion it is completely wasted and buried under the serious and sad tone of the story. I am not saying, of course, to go crazy, as was the case with the other role of the aforementioned Jean Reno, which incidentally, although it turns the killer into an agent, Yakuza and the teenager remain, i.e. Wasabi, but it was much better to weave exotic threads here .
The main duo of Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Miku Patricia Martineau are also not too bad. Woody Harrelson is also hanging around there, but his presence on the screen is, unfortunately, negligible. Unfortunately, however, even the best acting will not save the average script, although it has to be honestly admitted that the main cast gives their best and is able to play even poorly written characters, getting everything they can out of them.
In summary, unfortunately, Kate does not impress. I am very happy that Netflix wants to create another strong and independent female character, but the creators here followed the line of least resistance. All of this has already been somewhere, and it is better served.
