Kate (2021)

[Drunk Monk]

--tg

Yeah, about Kate...

‘Hard pass’: Netflix’s ‘Kate’ criticized for having a white protagonist who’s out to ‘kill Asians’
Carl Samson
August 10, 2021


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[b]A number of social media users are saying no to a new action-adventure film from Netflix after learning that its white protagonist is headed for an Asian murder spree.[/b]
[b]What’s it about:[/b] “Kate,” which releases on Sept. 10, centers on a “ruthless criminal operative” who was poisoned and left with less than 24 hours to exact revenge on her enemies. In the process, she forms an “unexpected bond” with the daughter of one of her past victims.

• Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who received praises for her performance as Huntress in the film “Birds of Prey,” will play the lead role. As per [url=https://www.indiewire.com/2021/08/kate-trailer-mary-elizabeth-winstead-netflix-1234655673/]Indie Wire, Netflix’s official synopsis states that Kate “uncharacteristically blows an assignment targeting a member of the yakuza in Tokyo,” which leads her to being poisoned.
  
  
• The film also stars Woody Harrelson as Kate’s handler. Other cast members include Miku Martineau, Tadanobu Asano, Michiel Huisman and Jun Kunimura.
  
  
• The action-adventure is helmed by French film director and visual effects artist Cedric Nicolas-Troyan. It is written by Umair Aleem and produced by Bryan Unkeless, Kelly McCormick and Patrick Newall, according to Entertainment Weekly.
  

[b]What critics are saying: [/b]“Kate” has received more positive comments as of this writing, with many thrilled to see the involvement of Japanese rock band BAND-MAID and Winstead’s return in an action role. However, some laid out reasons why the film is problematic, and they’re all based on the idea that the lead character — a white person — is killing Asians.

• One Twitter user accused the film of Asian fetishization: “Shame on Netflix for this. After this past year especially, to then release a film that is literally white people murdering Asian people based on stereotypes and fetishization??? Hard pass.”
  
  
• Another called out the presence of white lead characters in Asian settings: “Love Winstead. But stop putting white leads around Asian culture in an Asian city while every antagonist is Asian. And what’s Hollywood’s obsession with the Yakuza, like, damn.”
  
  
• Meanwhile, one simply wrote: “#StopAsianHate. That’s it. That’s the tweet.”
  

I would've enjoyed this more had I not read the review above. The review is spot on and that's one of those niggling issues about our woke era. Had the protag Kate been Asian, this would've been fine. But it comes off like Year of the Dragon, with a white lead laying waste to Asian gangs - just not what I need to see right now.

Sadly, Winstead is good in the role as a raised from childhood assassiness. She carries merciless action well. David Leitch is attached to this, so the ultravi is sanguineous and fresh. 

Asano is a saving grace. He carries his role with his usual panache. It's got style, some interesting camera work in the beginning. And the Band Maid driven soundtrack is unique. 

Woody is Woody. The 'twist' is predictable from scene one. Kate is betrayed, poisoned with a radioactive material that will kill her in a day, so she walks the road of vengeance. There's a kid, and you already know what her deal is, and that almost makes it into a buddy film in the middle, but the kid's character is too unbelievable and the ending is rather cliché. 

This is a total fast forward to the fight scene flick. 

There is a sword fight. It's rather good. 

I'm on the fence about the D00M rec - if you can unsee the Asian fetishism and stereotypes, the action is decent. That's impossible for me, but maybe not for some of you. I'll be interested in your take on it should you watch it.

[Greg]

I'm sure I'll hate it once i see it.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

It was predictable as hell, but Winstead was good in the roll. The fights were good.

[Drunk Monk]

It was predictable as hell, but Winstead was good in the roll. The fights were good.

 
The first fights were awesome. So Leitch. I liked the knife through the face and Winstead's mercilessness. 

What can I say? I'm hypersensitive to Asian issues right now. In that regard, this film hits a lot of tone deaf notes.

[Drunk Monk]

awkward

‘Kate’ actress responds to ‘Asian killing spree’ criticism, says her intention was to pay ‘homage to Japan’

[color=var(--cs-color-secondary)][color=var(--cs-color-primary)]Ryan General
10 mins ago[/color]


[b]Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead has responded to the criticisms her latest film “Kate” has been receiving online.[/b]
[b]Immediate backlash:[/b] As soon as the trailer for the Netflix film emerged last month, it received heavy criticism for its premise involving a white woman going on an “Asian killing spree” in Japan, NextShark previously reported. 
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• In the film, Winstead plays the titular character Kate, a “ruthless criminal operative” who is poisoned by the yakuza and has less than 24 hours to seek revenge.
  
  
• One Twitter user summarized the plot as “one white woman killing a whole lot of Asian people.”
  
  
• [u]Another user[/u] pointed out how insensitive the premise was amid the recent “rise of attacks against” the Asian community.
  

[b]An ‘homage’ to Japan:[/b] In an interview with 8Days, Winstead said the movie’s creative team did not intend to anger the Asian community when “Kate” started development in 2019. She added that their intention was to pay homage to Japan and its culture. 

• Winstead expressed hopes that critics would watch the movie first before passing judgment on its merits. 
  
  
• “When people see it, I hope that they realize that it’s a thoughtful film,” she was quoted as saying. “It’s nothing exploitative about it in any way. It’s very emotional. There’s a lot of depth and humanity and dignity in the film even though there is also a lot of violence.”
  
  
• Winstead said portraying her character Kate “was something that felt more challenging than anything I have done before on so many levels, physically as well as emotionally.”
  

[b]Japan reacts:[/b] When the film was released on Sept. 10, more viewers weighed in on “Kate,” including the Japanese audience who found a lot more to dislike from the movie, reported Kotaku.  

• [u]Cinema Drake[/u], which gave the movie a 3/10 rating, noticed its resemblance to Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” from 2003, pointing out that “Kate” displayed “the lack of progression in the depiction [of Japan] over the past 18 years. This is truly a Japanese stereotype extravaganza as thought up by a foreigner.’
  
  
• Average viewers (non-critics) from Eiga.com found the same flaw in the film. “Looking at this, you get the feeling that Japan hasn’t changed in the past twenty years,” one user wrote. Another viewer asked, “When will Japan’s image be updated? The image of projecting an animation on the entire face of a building has never been updated since the era of Japan-as-cyberpunk (for example, ‘Blade Runner’).”
  
  
• Users on site Filmarks also criticized the film’s use of too much neon in Japan, with one pointing out how the “flashy neon image of Japan hasn’t changed since ‘Blade Runner.’” Another user asked, “‘Japan has that much neon? It’s a mystery why everyone [in Kate] can speak English.”
  
  
• A reviewer on Kyou mo Eiga desu ka? made a similar observation: “‘Inevitably, when Japan appears in Hollywood movies, it quickly becomes cyberpunk. It’s as though a bit of ‘Blade Runner’ has been added to reality, and this [type of movie] is already on the way to becoming a genre called Wrong About Japan.”
  
  
• [u]CineMag[/u], which gave “Kate” an 81% rating, found it a relief that some Japanese characters were portrayed as “normal Japanese yakuza,” compared to Japanese actors in other foreign movies who “often overact and speak in unnatural Japanese.” 
  

Featured Image via Netflix

[Greg]

That excuse never seems to work. Go figure.

[Drunk Monk]

yeah, it's a desperate plea for forgiveness of being ignorant. 

the only way this 'honored' japanese culture is including band-maid. 

i wonder if asano has made any statements.