Cory Bosse

There is a depth to this move that most "One-man-army" movies often fail to achieve. The John Wick Inspired subgenre so often features permanently stoic characters with surface level motivations that we are meant to accept and not revisit. Kate offers something more than that. It's full of difficult decisions and dilemmas and characters that form emotional connections with each other, all while providing the same viciously intense fight scenes that the format is known for. In fact, many of them felt more real and visceral than usual. I felt myself wincing and gritting my teeth at points, but it never strayed into meaningless gore by any stretch. And while all of this takes place entirely in Japan, it never feels like a Western caricature, instead treating it with a certain respect rarely seen in movies. Kate is worth the time. And you simply have to see Mary Elizabeth Winstead's performance.

This movie is the answer to the question "What if Michael Bay made a movie that was more Michael Bay than ever before?" Nothing makes sense. No plot point has any time or explanation put into it. Everything is just split second shots with small chunks of disconnected dialogue punctuated by huge, elaborate scenes of destruction. It often feels like the editor for this movie was doing rails of coke the entire time it was stitched together. But I'll give it one extra star for some of the epic technical feats that the set designers and effects team put together.