The thriller “Kate” starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead was released on Netflix on September 10. The trailer and synopsis looked as high-quality as recent releases on hellspin.com, surprising with amazing graphics and charming storylines. The plot calls for a deadly poisoned hitwoman to find her killer in 24 hours and get her revenge. It’s not too new, but the viewer can always be delighted with good action and a couple of unexpected plot decisions. But it seems that something strange happened during the making of “Kate” and we got another passable movie which is a little difficult to watch. How did this happen? Let’s look into it.
Let’s start with our expectations-why does a story about a poisoned assassin sound good? Because it was a terrific run in Crank with Jason Statham. There, the main character is injected with a synthetic drug that slows the heart and slowly causes death. But isn’t that plagiarism, why do the same thing? No, it’s not plagiarism. It’s a cliché that allows the viewer to tune in to the fast-paced plot – there’s a time limit, and we know we’re not going to be shown a hundred years of a character’s life.
But in “Crank,” the simplicity and predictability of the script was perfectly balanced by the absolute chaos of everything that happens on the screen. There were good jokes, wild visual effects, strangely staged shots, overly loud music – everything you need for an action-thriller about a man who can die at any moment. So what happened to “Kate”?
The film opens with a dramatic scene. Kate arrives on a mission, but for the first time she questions the orders of her superiors – all because her teenage daughter is walking next to the victim. And our hitwoman has principles: she doesn’t kill people when children are near them. But it takes her a couple of seconds to go against that at least once. The victim’s daughter is terrified, and Kate begins to think about ending her career – it’s too hard a job like this. She tells her manager of her intentions, but promises to finish one last assignment. Except that the very next day she is poisoned by Polonium-204.
Kate embarks on her last 24 hours of life with a firm desire to avenge her imminent death. The action scenes in the film are good. It seems that one of the hallmarks of cool on-screen combat is a reaction where the viewer himself is hurt by what he sees. Kate is the new Terminator woman: she will fight to the last man, even if she herself gets some pretty nasty wounds in the process.
Along the way, she meets the very girl from the first scene. Now we also have a young sidekick heroine who brings some kindness, purity and faith in a good future into the killer’s life.
The world of “Kate” tried to make it bright through the neon streets of Tokyo, but instead of “Blade Runner,” the guys got a low-budget trailer. The dynamics of the film build only on the fact that the heroine has 24 hours. The main plot twist “Kate” doesn’t do much to remedy the situation.
Everything in the film is done as safely as possible – it’s as if the creators deliberately didn’t take any risks and gave out another movie that will occasionally pop up in people’s recommendations on Netflix. And it’s sad to realize that, considering how cool their cast and general idea was.
