It's very difficult to make a movie about a revenge-seeking assassin with any semblance of originality, because the subgenre has been done to death. As some sort of labored compromise, Netflix's new actioner Kate doesn't even try. It's entertaining in points, boasts a fiercely committed central performance and some well-choreographed set pieces, but everything else from the plot and dialogue to character motivations and resolutions are paint-by-numbers filmmaking at its most mediocre.
James Wan is the architect of both Saw and The Conjuring Universe, both of which are multi-billion dollar horror properties, while he's also been involved as a director, writer and executive producer on Dead Silence, Death Sentence, The Insidious series, Demonic and Lights Out.
It's been over 20 years since Christopher Nolan made a movie for a studio (other than Warner Bros). In that time, the filmmaker collaborated on nine critically acclaimed features, all which accumulated billions of box office dollars.
There's no magic formula for guaranteeing which film and television projects will be able to find a massive audience on streaming, but if there was, then Netflix would appear to have it tucked away safely in their back pockets. While the advent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Disney Plus expansion has yielded some chart-toppers, the world's most popular platform tends to top the ratings nine times out of ten.
The early reviews coming out of Dune's Venice Film Festival Premiere have been glowing, with the word 'masterpiece' being thrown around more than once.