Once upon a time, I humorlessly told a friend that Netflix gives B-movie scripts an A-movie budget. Kate, directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, is yet another example of this penchant from the streaming studio. Mary Elizabeth delivers an intense and entertaining performance, proving her action heroine abilities once again, but unfortunately, the film’s merits don’t rise above that and some interesting moments of cinematography. There’s also a more problematic aspect of the film regarding the inclusion of white people in front and behind the camera in an otherwise Asian-centric film, but more on that towards the end.

Kate is titled after its main character, Kate, an assassin working under contractor Varrick. After she assassinates the brother of prominent Yakuza boss Kijima, Kate is poisoned and expected to die within 24 hours. She spends her last day alive on a manhunt in Tokyo, intending to find Kijima and kill him before she dies. While on her mission, Kate crosses paths with the daughter of one of her past victims.

Needless to say, one of the better aspects of Kate is Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s performance as the title character. Throughout her roughly two-decade career, Winstead has been in multiple action films as a supporting character, usually stealing the show in films like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Birds of Prey. This is her first-time front and center, and she uses the time well. Winstead’s comedic timing is what stood out the most, easily selling the campier lines that come with the genre, in addition to the physically demanding work and dramatic beats.

The supporting cast delivers well in their roles, with Woody Harrelson and Jun Kunimira being the biggest names with the most meat to chew. Harrelson doesn’t falter in his role as Varrick, although the performance is hardly the cream of the crop of the actor’s long career. Kunimura’s talents as the head Yakuza boss allow him to rise above the material, providing gravitas to a character with less screentime but requiring bigger emotional moments. Miku Martineau provides laughs and an emotional core as Ani, Kate’s new accomplice, while Tabanobu Asano is wasted as one of the film’s Yakuza lieutenants.

The story and plot serve their function, which is to make Kate likable and relatable enough for audiences to root for her as she tears through Yakuza minions in fight scenes. There are small attempts at nuance, primarily being the consequences of a lifetime devoted to violence and the ideas of found family, but these only provide the occasional beat to break up the action.

That being said, the filmmaking itself involving the action setpieces is genuinely great. The way that cinematographer Lyle Vincent utilizes the unique aesthetic of urban Tokyo catches the eye, with the neon lights and seedy underground locales providing for engaging set pieces to take place. The fact that Vincent keeps the action close, rarely cutting away and allowing the viewer to witness the full violence, makes for more thrilling fights, a boon in films that rely as much on hand-to-hand combat as this one does.

There is a problematic aspect evident in the film, and it’s how the film is a white savior, exotic foreigners film. The film isn’t a white savior film in the traditional sense, but Winstead and Harrelson’s casting, plus Nicolas-Troyan being the director, caused me to raise some eyebrows. It is worth acknowledging that Kate is not an attempt to be a deeply engaging film about Japanese culture, nor is it meant to be an explicit riff or parody of typical Japanese action films.

The flip side of the film not engaging directly in Japanese culture means that it is also not required to be in Japan or have a white woman as its hero. Without getting too much into spoiler territory, the image of a lone white woman on a killing spree of generic Asian men and rescuing an Asian girl from them doesn’t sit well with me.

The choice to set Kate in Japan thus creates a strange sense of conflict for me as an Asian-American viewer. Why put this in Japan? This type of story makes as much sense to be set in the United States, where Winstead is from, as it does anywhere else.

While the aesthetic of Tokyo is used wonderfully for the film’s action, the decision to frame a story that could’ve used a Japanese actress for its heroine or using a different location where Winstead’s casting would be a less egregiously white savior comes off as tone-deaf, especially for a major American studio. A Yakuza movie like this would’ve been an interesting concept, much like the highly successful The Raid from Indonesia, but with Winstead’s casting, it faces a problematic racial identity for me.

I felt it necessary to include that disclaimer, which hampered my subjective viewing as an audience member. Excusing the aspect that personally disengaged me, Kate‘s lack of a strong story and average acting, sans the talented but ultimately miscast Winslet, were both factors that make me unlikely to revisit or recommend it beyond its core audiences. The action, the cinematography, and the quippy humor all make for a fun time, even if it’s a forgettable one.

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Kate

4.5

Score

4.5/10

Pros

• Tough, Cool Performance By Mary Elizabeth Winstead
• Slick Cinematography and Use of Color
• Funny Quips

Cons

• Generic Action Story
• Forgettable Characters
• Longer Than Necessary
• Problematic Casting and Setting Choices