Kate: Definitely a gotta-see action film

Movie Review: Kate (2021) on Netflix

Here's another action movie you should see, just for the sheer moxie of the story. Think of John Wick but with a woman in the antihero role. Maybe a Sigourney Weaver from Aliens but taking on the Tokyo Mafia. In this case, it's Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Kate taking no prisoners and taking no sass in Tokyo. And she has Ani (played by Miku Patricia Martineau) as a sidekick. Woody Harrelson is her mentor/protector, although in many films we've come to find that Mr Harrelson rarely comes out at the end as the good guy. 

Kate is a wickedly efficient assassin, skilled in all the killer arts. But she blows an assignment to take down the leader of the yakuza syndicate in Japan. It results in her being poisoned with polonium, giving her only 24 hours to find her own assassin and complete her original assignment. Struggling to survive, she runs into the granddaughter of her target, who could help her locate the old man but at first acts more as a deterrent, until they find they have more in common than in detraction.

Lots of action, with chase scenes, gun battles, fights, and bloody melee. I'd say a notch or two below a John Wick bloodletting, but still, you will be wowed. I'd rate it an A+ for antihero wins the day. This is definitely a gotta-see action film.

XXX: Return of Xander Cage: It's a Blast!

Movie Review: XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017)
Version: Library borrow

Take the Fast and Furious franchise, strip it of all the fast cars, keep Vin Diesel but infuse it with some new team mates, and you have XXX: Return of Xander Cage. It's full of action and amazing stunts, just as in the Fast and Furious films.

I was surprised when we found the film on our Xfinity search screen to see that it had low ratings. It's a fun film! Vin Diesel (or his stunt double) starts out the story with some amazing stunt work, skiing down a communications tower and into a mountainous jungle then powering down winding hilly roads on a skateboard. There are other amazing stunts, including kick-ass kung fu fighting with a motor bike and then using it as jet ski through the ocean surf. Whoa!

The main story line involves Vin Diesel as Xander Cage, a government special teams agent who has disappeared but been found again to hunt down a piece of IT gear capable of bringing down satellites to decimate big cities. It turns out the guys who are using it are other members of the government special teams unit, who have deadly martial arts skills, and of course, only Xander Cage can hope to take them on. To help him out, Cage brings on a small team of specialists, who also have mad fighting skills.

Joining Diesel as team members are Ruby Rose as Adele, Kris Wu and Nicks, Tony Ja as Talon, and Rory McCann as Tennyson. They range from snipers, to martial artists, to distraction artists, to an older guy who can ram vehicles into opponents second to none. It's actually a great if quirky ensemble cast.

The bad guys are represented by Toni Collette as the head of the NSA, who more often than not gets in the team's way, although they work for her, Donnie Yang as the main bad guy who wants to keep the device out of the hands of governments, and Deepika Padikone as his accomplice. Then there are the assorted beefsteaks who act as military foils for just about everyone else.

The setting is the Dominican Republic, with its lush jungles, mountainous terrain, and exotic beaches, all which create a wonderful backdrop for stunts and mayhem.

Diesel displays his usual laid-back charm and humor. The others try to keep up. All around, it's a fun romp of good guys against bad guys, sometimes just trying to figure out which is which and which player has the "ball" in a continual game of misdirect. The pace is fast and the action furious -- go figure.

Don't expect any socially redeeming value, this film is just for fun. If you're having a tough day, or politics are just getting you down, or you're simply feeling lousy, put XXX: Return of Xander Cage in the DVD player and zone out! It's a blast.

John Wick: Chapter 2: Zounds! Practically Non-stop Action.

Movie Review: John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
Version: Library borrow

Zounds! There's more action in John Wick: Chapter 2 than in almost any other action movie I've ever seen, including the original John Wick! It's practically non-stop.

John Wick (played by Keanu Reeves) returns from his last romp in the original movie, during which the love of his life, his car, was stolen. He retrieves it from the bad guys in a gigantic gun battle chase scene, then drinks a toast for peace to the head bad guy and returns home, where he buries his guns and his loot. From there, everything goes to toast.

Santino D'Antonio (played by Riccardo Scamarcia) visits Wick to call in a chip of service. Wick has retired from service as a hit man, but D'Antonio insists Wick must honor the chip. Wick says no. So D'Antonio blows up with Wick's home with Wick in it. Wick hunts him down in Rome to finally honor the chip, which it turns out is to kill D'Antonio's sister, who has claimed the family's seat at the world crime table, which D'Antonio wants. Wick still doesn't want the job, but it's his only way out. D'Antonio's sister is to be enshrined in the organization in the Colosseum in Rome that evening, so Wick goes on a shopping spree buying clothes, guns, knives, and the whole shot to take down D'Antonio's sister and her gang of protectors who will go after him afterwards.  What follows is another wild fight scene in, under, and around the Colosseum, going on in part of which is a full celebration with a rock concert. Wick is deft with a gun and hand-to-hand combat!

D'Antonio must, of course, revenge the death of his sister, so he puts out a $7 million worldwide bounty on Wick. That creates another rumpus gun battle chase scene as John Wick tries to get away, finally arriving in New York City, where he finds refuge at the hotel owned by Winston (played by Ian McShane). From there he leaves to hunt down D'Antonio, who is contemplating the lavish artworks of his late father at a monolithic art museum. To get to him, Wick seeks the help of the mastermind of the underground, the Bowery King (played by Laurence Fishburne). And once inside the museum, Wick chases after D'Antonio shooting his way through galleries and finally into a mirrored modern-art display that would be the pursuer's worst nightmare. Watching D'Antonio's back is the dangerous Ares (played by Ruby Rose), who can't ever quite keep up with Wick.

In the final scenes D'Antonio gets back to Winston's hotel of refuge for thieves and crime bosses, where rules are rules. But John Wick does the unthinkable, and finds himself once again the target of a worldwide bounty hunt.

I've told you a lot about the plot without spoiling anything of significance. I did so to show you how much action there is in this film. Reeves must have been worn out after a day, a week, a month of shooting this film. Pistols, semi-automatic rifles, shot guns, knives - pencils - all weapons in his all too capable hands. And nothing and no one can best him. He leaves bodies in the streets and alleyways like pigeons leave droppings on statues.

Some have suggested this is just a thin-plotted movie to serve the interests of gun play, but I disagree. The gun play very much serves a bigger, more interesting plot in very exciting settings. The gun play is choreographed beautifully and flawlessly like a dance ensemble. And the cast ensemble is delicious in its evil and its cunning.

If you like an action film, if you like a gun battle movie, if you like an movie with a super anti-hero who just can't be stopped despite all the odds being against him, then John Wick Chapter 2 should be perfect for you. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed it.