Kate (2021)

(Netflix Streaming, July 2022) There have been many, many movies about assassins lately and roughly 90% of them revolve around “one last job” uncovering that their mentor/handler/organization is trying to get them killed. Kate doesn’t get any points at all for reusing that specific plotline. It does, however, get a few nods for combining that plotline with a DOA-inspired ticking-clock motivator. But it’s largely a style exercise, as director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan (rebounding from the execrable The Huntsman: Winter’s War) gleefully uses the neon lights of modern urban Japan as a backdrop to John Wick-style stunt work. (The similarities as not accidental, as David Leitch produced both films.)  It’s also a more-than-modest success for Mary Elizabeth Winstead, as she polishes her credentials as a potent action heroine, with the overall brutality of the film heightening her performance. The result is certainly not something that will burst out of the action hitman genre—the borrowing from better influences is all over the place, and the film’s gleefully blood-soaked action (plus inevitable downer ending) is often too sadistic to be entirely fun. But those who are looking for some bone-crunching genre action should be satisfied by Kate—not by much, but at least enough to keep watching despite the very familiar material.