Kate

Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Woody Harrelson, Miku Martineau, Tadanobu Asano, Jun Kunimura, Michiel Huisman, Miyavi

Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan

Assassin Kate (Winstead) is struggling with her chosen profession after the assassination of a Yakuza boss goes wrong and forces her to eliminate the target in front of a young girl named Ani (Martineau). She promises her handler Varrick (Harrelson) she will keep going on her assignment but will retire after it is complete. After picking up a mysterious stranger (Huisman) at a bar, Kate discovers she has been poisoned with Polonium-204 and has 24 hours to live. As Kate tries to survive long enough to get her revenge, she discovers the key to solving the mystery rests with young Ani, who is at the center of a a mutinous regime change within the Yakuza.

This is the film I wanted The Protege to be. Filled with wall to wall action and charismatic performances from the two leads, I was entertained throughout despite a familiar plot.

I love a film with a good ticking clock and this one has a simple and effective one: 24 hours to live. Kate is not only a dangerous assassin but can hold her own in a fight. I liked that as time progressed and her health continued to deteriorate, her ability to fight worsened. It's a nifty detail woven into the film and yet despite this, Kate never backs down from a fight.

The action, which occurs quite frequently, is brutal and bloody. While the fights more closely resemble John Wick than The Protege or even Netflix's own Gunpowder Milkshake, I do wish that they weren't so chaotically edited. There are times where the camera is allowed to linger and we do see Winstead performing some of the action, but I wish it had happened more often. It would have given the fights more intensity and urgency. The backdrop of the film, which mostly consists of Japan at night, is colorful and adds a visually pleasing backdrop.

While I did enjoy the film as a whole, the plot is very predictable. I was able to figure out where it was going in the first five-ten minutes. I see a lot of movies, but it shouldn't be that easy to figure out.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is great in a physically demanding performance. She showed a strong penchant for action in Birds of Prey and gets to show everyone what she is capable of in this film. I not only hope she gets more action roles, but more lead roles in general. For an action film, she gives an incredibly nuanced performance and her chemistry with Miku Martineau is fantastic. Martineau runs away with what could have been a thankless part. Her character gets to experience a wide range of emotion and she never feels unrealistic in those emotions. Woody Harrelson is great but it's a pretty thankless part.

While not the best action thriller I've seen, I still had a lot of fun with this, thanks in large part to a fearless performance by Winstead and her relationship with a scene stealing Miku Martineau.

Grade: B-

Kate is available on Netflix.