Kate (film): Difference between revisions
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Before the final mission, Kate meets a charismatic stranger, Stephen, at her hotel's bar. The pair share a bottle of [[wine]] and have sex in her room. Later, while preparing her sniper's nest, she starts getting symptoms of dizziness that cause her to miss the shot. Kate realizes that Stephen poisoned her, and after crashing her car, wakes up in a hospital to learn that she has [[acute radiation sickness|acute radiation poisoning]] caused by [[Polonium]]-204 and only twenty-four hours to live. She steals injectable stimulant drugs and a gun and sets out to exact revenge on whoever poisoned her. |
Before the final mission, Kate meets a charismatic stranger, Stephen, at her hotel's bar. The pair share a bottle of [[wine]] and have sex in her room. Later, while preparing her sniper's nest, she starts getting symptoms of dizziness that cause her to miss the shot. Kate realizes that Stephen poisoned her, and after crashing her car, wakes up in a hospital to learn that she has [[acute radiation sickness|acute radiation poisoning]] caused by [[Polonium]]-204 and only twenty-four hours to live. She steals injectable stimulant drugs and a gun and sets out to exact revenge on whoever poisoned her. |
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Kate tracks down Stephen and his girlfriend, and learns that they were strong-armed into poisoning her by Sato, a yakuza affiliated with the Kijima crime family. Kate finds Sato at a luxury restaurant and kills him along with dozens of armed yakuza. Desperate for information about the reclusive, well-guarded |
Kate tracks down Stephen and his girlfriend, and learns that they were strong-armed into poisoning her by Sato, a yakuza affiliated with the Kijima crime family. Kate finds Sato at a luxury restaurant and kills him along with dozens of armed yakuza. Desperate for information about the reclusive, well-guarded boss Kijima, who she thinks might be behind the poisoning, she kidnaps Ani, Kijima's niece. Kate realizes that Ani is the girl who saw her father die during the Osaka mission. |
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While Kate initially only wants to use Ani as bait to lure Kijima out into the open, she decides to become her protector upon learning that Ani's family wants to kill her as part of an internal power struggle, led by Kijima's corrupt advisor, Renji. Kate uncovers more clues about the Osaka mission and realizes that her trust in Varrick may be misplaced after tracking down Kijima, who reveals that Renji made a deal with Varrick to incorporate his team into the syndicate in exchange for killing Kijima and all of his blood relatives. Kijima, aware that Kate is close to death, provides her with a small army of his men to assault Renji's headquarters. |
While Kate initially only wants to use Ani as bait to lure Kijima out into the open, she decides to become her protector upon learning that Ani's family wants to kill her as part of an internal power struggle, led by Kijima's corrupt advisor, Renji. Kate uncovers more clues about the Osaka mission and realizes that her trust in Varrick may be misplaced after tracking down Kijima, who reveals that Renji made a deal with Varrick to incorporate his team into the syndicate in exchange for killing Kijima and all of his blood relatives. Kijima, aware that Kate is close to death, provides her with a small army of his men to assault Renji's headquarters. |
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Revision as of 14:40, 24 September 2021
| Kate | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Promotional release poster | |
| Directed by | Cedric Nicolas-Troyan |
| Written by | Umair Aleem |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Lyle Vincent |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Nathan Barr |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages |
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Kate is a 2021 American action thriller film directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan and written by Umair Aleem. The film stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Miku Martineau, Woody Harrelson, Tadanobu Asano, Michiel Huisman, Miyavi, and Jun Kunimura. The film follows Kate (Winstead), an assassin, whose mentor and handler (Harrelson) assigns her to kill a high-ranking yakuza boss. During Kate's final mission, she finds out that she has been poisoned and only has 24 hours to live, so she uses her last hours to get revenge and find out who set her up.
The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Winstead's performance but described the film as "disappointing." It was released on September 10, 2021, by Netflix.
Plot
Kate is an assassin and expert sniper who eliminates targets chosen by her trusted mentor and handler, Varrick. After she was left orphaned as a child, Varrick raised her as a father figure, giving her extensive training in weapons and combat and eventually inducting her into his private team of wetwork specialists.
As the film opens, Kate is in Osaka to kill an officer of a powerful yakuza syndicate, but Kate resists taking the shot because a child has unexpectedly accompanied him. She ultimately shoots the target at Varrick's insistence. While Kate's assignment is a success, this breach of her personal code to not kill in the presence of children leaves her in emotional turmoil. She tells Varrick that she will do one final mission, and then retire so she can start a new life.
Before the final mission, Kate meets a charismatic stranger, Stephen, at her hotel's bar. The pair share a bottle of wine and have sex in her room. Later, while preparing her sniper's nest, she starts getting symptoms of dizziness that cause her to miss the shot. Kate realizes that Stephen poisoned her, and after crashing her car, wakes up in a hospital to learn that she has acute radiation poisoning caused by Polonium-204 and only twenty-four hours to live. She steals injectable stimulant drugs and a gun and sets out to exact revenge on whoever poisoned her.
Kate tracks down Stephen and his girlfriend, and learns that they were strong-armed into poisoning her by Sato, a yakuza affiliated with the Kijima crime family. Kate finds Sato at a luxury restaurant and kills him along with dozens of armed yakuza. Desperate for information about the reclusive, well-guarded boss Kijima, who she thinks might be behind the poisoning, she kidnaps Ani, Kijima's niece. Kate realizes that Ani is the girl who saw her father die during the Osaka mission.
While Kate initially only wants to use Ani as bait to lure Kijima out into the open, she decides to become her protector upon learning that Ani's family wants to kill her as part of an internal power struggle, led by Kijima's corrupt advisor, Renji. Kate uncovers more clues about the Osaka mission and realizes that her trust in Varrick may be misplaced after tracking down Kijima, who reveals that Renji made a deal with Varrick to incorporate his team into the syndicate in exchange for killing Kijima and all of his blood relatives. Kijima, aware that Kate is close to death, provides her with a small army of his men to assault Renji's headquarters.
After a fierce gunfight, most of Renji and Varrick's men are killed, and Kijima personally beheads Renji for his betrayal. Kate locates Varrick, who is holding Ani at gunpoint. The two have a fast draw and Varrick is fatally shot in the stomach. Ani then helps Kate walk outside to the roof, where Kate, finally at peace with herself, dies.
Cast
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Kate, the titular assassin[1]
- Amelia Crouch as Teen Kate
- Ava Caryofyllis as Child Kate
- Gemma Brooke Allen as Young Kate
- Miku Martineau as Ani, the niece of top Japanese crime boss Kijima[1]
- Woody Harrelson as Varrick, Kate's mentor and handler
- Tadanobu Asano as Renji, a high-ranking yazuka member and advisor to Kijima who betrays him
- Jun Kunimura as Kijima, an aging yakuza boss and Ani's uncle
- Michiel Huisman as Stephen, a man who has a sexual encounter with Kate so he can poison her drink
- Miyavi as Jojima, a flamboyant yakuza who lives with Renji in an expensive penthouse apartment
- Kazuya Tanabe as Shinzo, a yakuza enforcer loyal to Renji
Production
In October 2017, Netflix acquired Umair Aleem's script Kate, with David Leitch, Kelly McCormick, Bryan Unkeless and Scott Morgan producing the film.[2] In December 2018, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan signed on to direct the film.[3] In April 2019, Mary Elizabeth Winstead was cast to star in the film.[4] In July 2019, Woody Harrelson joined the cast.[5] In September, Michiel Huisman, Tadanobu Asano and Jun Kunimura were among new additions to the cast.[6] In November 2019, it was announced that the Japanese rock band Band-Maid would appear in the film.[7]
Filming commenced on September 16, 2019 and concluded on November 29, 2019. Shooting locations include Thailand, Tokyo, Japan, and Los Angeles, California.[8]
Winstead had previously worked with stunt performer Hayley Wright on the film Gemini Man and trained with her extensively before filming began. Winstead appreciated that they both had a background in dance and moved in the same way. Unfortunately Wright was injured on the first day of filming in Thailand and other stunt performers had to be brought on instead.[9]
Release
It was released on September 10, 2021.[10][11]
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 43% based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 5.10/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Mary Elizabeth Winstead does reliably gripping work in the title role, but Kate is disappointingly derivative of numerous other female assassin films."[12] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13]
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "So, yes: Kate is John Wick meets Die Hard meets Collateral meets Kill Bill all the Volumes and we've seen it all before and you're not going to get much in the way of original plot, but what you WILL get is a grindhouse of a good time with some bleak and wickedly sharp humor, screen-popping visuals and some pretty great fight choreography."[14] CNN's Brian Lowry was critical of the lack of originality comparing it to the 1950's film noir "D.O.A.". He said the action was "plentiful and particularly bloody" but the story lacks mystery and was "wholly predictable".[15]
See also
- D.O.A (1950 film) - film noir with similar premise
- D.O.A. - 1988 American remake of the 1950 film
- Color Me Dead - 1969 Australian remake of the 1950 film
References
- ^ a b Collis, Clark (August 4, 2021). "See Mary Elizabeth Winstead take on a killer role in the trailer for Kate". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
- ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (19 October 2017). "Netflix Pre-empts 'Kate', Eyed April Start And $25M Budget For Female-Centric Action Script". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- ^ Kit, Borys (6 December 2013). "'The Huntsman: Winter's War' Director Tackling Assassin Thriller for Netflix (EXCLUSIVE)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (25 April 2019). "Mary Elizabeth Winstead To Star in Netflix Assassin Thriller 'Kate' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- ^ Borys Kit (11 July 2019). "Woody Harrelson Joins Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Assassin Thriller 'Kate'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
- ^ 'Game of Thrones" Michiel Huisman, Tadanobu Asano Round Out Thriller 'Kate' (EXCLUSIVE)
- ^ "Japan's BAND-MAID Cast in New Netflix Thriller 'Kate,' Signs with Live Nation & UTA". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
- ^ Kate Production Info
- ^ Perri Nemiroff (11 September 2021). "Mary Elizabeth Winstead Does More of Her Own Stunts in 'Kate' Than You Might Think - Here's Why". Collider.
- ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 12, 2021). "Netflix Unveils A 2021 Film Slate With Bigger Volume & Star Wattage; Scott Stuber On The Escalating Film Ambition". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
- ^ @NetflixGeeked (June 7, 2021). "Kate Was Here. Coming September 10th. #GeekedWeek" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Kate". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
- ^ "Kate". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
- ^ Roeper, Richard (9 September 2021). "'Kate': Winstead slays in the year's third over-the-top female assassin movie". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ Brian Lowry (September 10, 2021). "'Kate' fires off a Netflix action movie that looks D.O.A. in more ways than one". CNN.