Kate

Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Miku Martineau, Woody Harrelson, Tadanobu Asano, Jun Kunimura, Michiel Huisman, Miyavi, Amelia Crouch, Ava Caryofyllis, Gemma Brooke Allen, Kazuya Tanabe
Running Time: 106 min.
Rating: R

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

Netflix's Kate may as well be the intersection where Crank meets John Wick meets Kill Bill, but director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan's explosive, over-the-top, high octane thriller also serves as Mary Elizabeth Winstead's rite of passage into full-fledged action star. There were hints of it in Birds of Prey, but now the actress takes the next logical leap in what's been an unexpectedly adventurous career arc that seems to paint further outside the lines with each passing role. And much like Charlize Theron and Scarlett Johansson, who both frequently alternate between giving powerful dramatic performances in smaller films and taking ass-kicking action parts that diversify their portfolios, Winstead is just as perfect a fit for this genre. As for the film itself, it's the very definition of a "love it" or "hate it" affair, as certain fans will eat it up while others may slightly cringe at how derivative it is of some titles that preceded it. 

Troyan proudly wears his influences on his sleeve and if there are points where you wish things were a little less predictable or tidier, that's mostly offset by what he gets right, from the visuals to the sensationally choreographed fight sequences. But it's Winstead who carries it, bringing a Ripley-like tenacity to the title part that's only enhanced by another performance that's just as good, enabling both to pick up the slack when the narrative starts playing itself out. They also take one of the more tired action tropes and elevate it,  leaving viewers contemplating all the creative possibilities for the inevitable sequel or spin-off that must already be in the planning stages. There's a lot to like here, but where it earns most of its stripes is in the commitment to go all out with the kind of inspired lunacy an action vehicle like this requires.     

When Kate (Winstead) was orphaned as a young girl, mentor and father figure Varrick stepped in, training her as a member of his elite team, as she developed into an expert assassin. Now, complications arise when she's in Osaka to kill an officer of the dangerous yakuza syndicate, as a child is unexpectedly accompanying the intended target. Kate's decision to take the shot anyway and complete the job leaves her in emotional distress, vowing to Varrick that she will only do one final mission before calling it quits and retiring. But after experiencing dizziness and unable to hit her mark, Kate soon comes to the harsh realization she may have been poisoned by a mysterious man named Stephen (Michiel Huisman), whom she hooked up with at a hotel bar. 

The toxic cocktail of choice was apparently Polonium-204, a radioactive agent that will kill Kate within 24 hours, as all clues lead to the Kijima crime family being behind the poisoning. On a desperate mission to find the reclusive Kijima (Jun Kunimura) himself, she kidnaps his niece Ani (Miku Martineau) while injecting herself with stolen hospital stimulants to keep going. With the clock ticking away, Kate sets her sights on extracting revenge, unaware of the many emerging roadblocks that could jeopardize that.   

While you could quibble about its originality, there's little room to deny this as a visually stimulating experience with an almost dizzying array of neon and blacklight coming at you from all directions to create this kinetic, propulsive nighttime Tokyo atmosphere. Early on, an exhilarating car chase through the busy streets evokes an aesthetic straight out of TRON: Legacy or Speed Racer. It's only when you get into the mechanics of the plot when Umair Aleem's screenplay exposes itself as treading over some familiar territory, but even that's done fairly well, as Winstead's intensity and the maternal connection Kate forms with Ani more than making up for those shortfalls. 

There are echoes of The Professional and probably dozens of other titles featuring a hitman or assassin as reluctant child protector, but there's something about how this one develops that really elevates the story, with Kate's hard exterior slowly cracking the more she sees of herself in this kid. Part of that's Winstead, but young newcomer Miku Martineau is a spunky revelation as Ani, peeling back the layers of her tough, outwardly rebellious character to show she's not quite as in control as she thinks, disregarded in much the same, sad way as Kate. Harrelson isn't incredibly involved until the last third of the picture, but leaves a sufficient enough impact with the screen time he's given.

With Kate as fixated on finding her favorite energy drink as she is hunting Kijima, amongst Winstead's many accomplishments is her ability to infuse as much deadpan humor into the material as possible. Say what you will about the 24-hour poison plot but there's a reason it's used so frequently in action films. When executed right, it works, helping here to give a sense of real-time immediacy to the events, aided in no small part by two wildly choreographed fight scenes that stand as the film's anchors. One in a restaurant, during which Kate battles a gang of yakuza, and another thrilling apartment fight with flamboyant assassin Jojima (Miyavi), both leading her closer to Kijima and possibly some answers. Of course, the answers she finds may not be what she was looking for.

This all does start losing some steam as it approaches a somewhat predictable, but still undeniably exciting finale carried by the Kate and Ani dynamic, not to mention a lot of gunfire and hand-to-hand combat. If nothing else, it's the genre film most likely to appear atop Quentin Tarantino's favorites of the year, which is less a testament to enduring quality than it being the exact kind of in-your-face female-driven action escape he'd likely overpraise. But this case, he'd kind of be right, with eye-popping visuals, some great fight scenes, and a coolness factor provided by Winstead's performance that powers Kate to a far less disposable level than most of the other action junk we're used to being served.