She doesn’t even look that different afterward. She’s not especially vain, as far as we know, and she’s definitely short on time. (“Death is a beginning,” he remarks sagely.) It’s the instant when she pauses in the middle of an urgent mission to cut her own hair over a bathroom sink. If the film has a defining moment, it’s not any of the cool parts where Kate shoots bad guys, or the sentimental parts where she’s bonding with her young charge, or the wannabe-meaningful parts where she’s receiving wisdom from an old Japanese gangster. (Even Ani, a local, is set apart from her Japanese crime family by virtue of being half-white.)īut such superficiality is par for the course for Kate. When a Japanese character complains that Westerners “gorge on cultures they don’t understand,” it’s hard not to wonder what movie he thinks he’s in, seeing as Kate ends up being yet another movie that sees the country as little more than an exotic backdrop for its white characters. Without him, Kate is largely an endless onslaught of mostly interchangeable yakuza goons hurtling through stereotypically Japanese settings: a bathhouse, a kabuki performance, an outdoor market awash in neon. First introduced in a silk Versace robe enjoying an at-home fish pedicure, Jojima makes Kate feel, for a moment, exactly as stylish and silly as it should be.Īlas, Jojima doesn’t stick around long. But she’s handily upstaged the moment a character with an actual personality shows up - Jojima, a yakuza hitman played with rock star élan by real-life rock star Miyavi. A late scene in which she struts into a lobby, sneering behind enormous sunglasses, a dangling cigarette and layers upon layers of blood and bruises, feels like ideal GIF fodder. And she certainly looks the part of the badass heroine, at least in slo-mo. Winstead’s no-nonsense aura serves her well as Kate, a strong, silent type whose only concession to whimsy is an obsession with a particular brand of soft drink. (No points for guessing whether they’ll form an unconvincing emotional bond over their respective tragic backstories.) She has roughly one day left to live, which she chooses to spend hunting down and enacting revenge on her killers - with unexpected assistance in the form of Ani (Miku Martineau), the teen daughter of one of Kate’s recent targets. The spoiler-free version is this: Kate is an elite American assassin operating in Tokyo, who wakes up after a botched job to discover she’s been poisoned. Umair Aleem’s script is so predictable that it’s possible to map out the entire final act based on the first two minutes of the movie and the plot synopsis. But Kate wears its influences like borrowed clothes, never quite managing to develop a style or voice that feels wholly its own. If its car chase feels too obviously CG even by the standards of a Fast & Furious movie, well, the vrooms and screeches still scratch a certain lizard-brain itch. If its bloody fistfights feel sluggish in comparison to the balletic grace of John Wick, well, there are worse action movies to crib from than John Wick. Use your fingers to shake your hair out to ensure the finished effect isn’t too ‘done’ or polished creating beautiful curved layers.Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Miku Martineau, Woody HarrelsonĪll these familiar elements come together to form a movie that’s fitfully entertaining. I like to use the Davines Dry Texturizer Spray as it doesn’t weigh your hair down and will give you a plush finish. To finish the look, add some texturising spray to give your hair some body and hold. Section the hair and using straighteners create soft bended curls intertwining into each other, with the sections at the front of the face ensure they are curled away from the face to create more definition and show off the face rather than hide it. Use the brush to create a soft bend through the ends of your hair like Kate – angle this towards your face for a glamorous look. Use a large barrel round brush to create volume and height – make sure you keep the nozzle pointed downwards on your hair to ensure you smooth the cuticle and create that smooth look. Next, section your hair to begin creating that professional blowdry finish. Apply this to damp hair and then begin to rough dry your hair until it is around 70% dry. Use the Davines Blowdry Primer as it provides a silky feel to the hair whilst providing hydration and reducing frizz. To maintain the look at home - and keep it looking salon-fresh, James has shared a step-by-step guide:
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