Kate: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan’s action film is, for all practical purposes, a remake of an old film noir, so it goes without saying the film brings nothing new to the table. Even discounting for that, pretty much everything about the film is tired, even the protagonist’s gender switch. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, as the title character (an assassin that is trying to get payback for being sort of killed), is convincing on both fronts: she holds herself well in the ultra-violent action sequences and sells the vulnerability of her character. Miku Martineau is appropriately annoying as her victim/sidekick. Woody Harrelson is a nice but underutilized presence; Kunimura Jun and Asano Tadanobu, even more so. The film looks slick, with its neon fantastic version of Japan, captured by cinematographer Lyle Vincent. Some of the action sequences are certainly filled with personality, but the editing team (Sandra Montiel and Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir) at times cuts them too much, to the point of making them uninteligible.