Atomic Blonde is an action film that’s headlined by two of the genre’s biggest rising stars. The first is its leading lady, Charlize Theron. Of course, prior to this, Theron’s already had a long career in the film industry. She’s starred in several critical hits over the years and she also won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in 2003’s Monster. However, she’s recently begun to make a name for herself as an action star, thanks in part to her iconic turn as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road. The other big name on this project is its director, David Leitch. Like Theron, Leitch has been in the film industry for a long time; for most of that time, though, he’s mainly been known for his work as a stuntman/stunt coordinator. Since 1995, he’s worked in the stunt department on several big-name films, including Fight Club, Serenity, and The Bourne Ultimatum just to name a few. Only recently has he moved into the field of directing. He made his official directorial debut in 2014 as the uncredited co-director alongside fellow stuntman Chad Stahelski on the modern action classic, John Wick. And while he didn’t return to direct this year’s sequel, John Wick: Chapter Two, he’s already been lined up to direct some major projects, including the highly anticipated sequel to 2016’s smash hit, Deadpool. But first, we have his official ‘solo’ debut, Atomic Blonde. The film is based on the 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart. And thanks to the combined efforts of Theron and Leitch, Atomic Blonde is an edgy/badass action thriller that features the same kind of incredible action sequences that made Leitch’s other directorial claim to fame, John Wick, such a success.
In the year 1989, Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is a top-level agent working for MI6. Around the same time that the Berlin Wall is set to come down, she is approached by her superiors, Eric Gray (Toby Jones) and ‘Chief C’ (James Faulkner), with her latest mission. One of her fellow MI6 agents, James Gasciogne (Sam Hargrave), who Lorraine happens to have had a close relationship with, was just murdered in Berlin. Stolen from his body was ‘The List’, a bit of microfilm containing the identities of all undercover operatives who are currently stationed in the Soviet Union. To protect the identities of her fellow agents, Lorraine is dispatched to Berlin to not only retrieve the list but to also take out the double agent who betrayed Gasciogne in the first place known only as ‘Satchel’. Once there, she is joined by her main contact, agent David Percival (James McAvoy), while also engaging in a relationship with undercover French agent Delphine Lasalle (Sofia Boutella). But in her efforts to obtain the list and take out ‘Satchel’, Lorraine finds herself embroiled in an increasingly complicated game of cat and mouse as she’s forced to act fast before ‘Satchel’ puts a target on her back as well. And as she soon finds out, some of her closest allies may not be as trustworthy as they seem.
As implied in the intro, Atomic Blonde does share some similarities with John Wick… at least, more than just the fact that they share one of the same directors. Both films center around a badass main protagonist who fights their way through a non-stop barrage of thugs to achieve their mission. They also share admittedly simple plots that still manage to be effective enough leverage for the events that transpire in them. And in the case of Atomic Blonde, this is primarily through its retro setting of Berlin near the end of the Cold War, which does provide a neat backdrop for this film’s main plot. With that said, though, Atomic Blonde does take a little while to get going, partially because it spends a considerable amount of its first half just setting up the plot. And really, the plot in this is mainly just a simple ‘cat and mouse’ plot with some predictable twists and turns along the way, which unfortunately makes it the weakest aspect of the film. But once Atomic Blonde’s second half rolls around, that’s when it truly steps into high gear as a highly entertaining action thriller. Leitch’s experience working in both the stunt industry and on John Wick translates perfectly to this film’s action sequences. Just like in John Wick, they are fantastically shot and brilliantly choreographed. Thus, Atomic Blonde easily features some of the best action sequences of the year, including an epic long-take fight sequence (about nine minutes (!), to be precise) that’s set in an old apartment building. This, for the most part, does make up for some of the film’s narrative shortcomings.
As for the film’s cast, Charlize Theron is truly the star of the show here. She’s more than proven herself to be a badass action star in the past, and that very much shows in this film’s incredible action sequences. And even though the film’s main plot is a simple one, Lorraine Broughton is still a fascinating main character. Her standoffish, no-nonsense attitude provides us with some interesting glimpses into her overall characterization as well as some entertainingly blunt arguments with her main associate, James McAvoy’s David Percival. McAvoy ends up getting a lot of the film’s best humorous moments due in part to the character’s roguish playboy personality. Another standout of the cast is Sofia Boutella as the seductive French operative Delphine. She has terrific chemistry with Theron and their characters share a solid relationship that’s more than just sexual, as Broughton basically takes Delphine under her wing when it’s established that the latter hasn’t had much experience out in the field. As for the rest of the cast, their roles in the film are minor by comparison but they are all solid in their respective roles and they work well with Theron in the scenes that they share with her. This includes, among others, Eddie Marsan as a defecting Soviet officer codenamed ‘Spyglass’, Til Schweiger as an enigmatic MI6 ally known only as ‘the Watchmaker’, and John Goodman as CIA agent Emmett Kurzfeld.
Under the direction of one-half of the duo behind John Wick, Atomic Blonde is just as badass as that film in terms of its impressive action sequences. My friend/colleague Michael Kaye of Geeks+Gamers said it best; Leitch’s experience in the stunt industry makes him a perfect candidate for directing action films. Like John Wick, this film features incredible action sequences, especially in the second half of the film. With that said, though, there are a few instances where the first half of the film drags a bit, namely to delve into exposition regarding set-ups for some admittedly clear-cut plot twists. Granted, also like John Wick, the plot isn’t meant to be the focus of the film; thus, it’s okay that this film’s plot is just a simple spy story and not much more than that. Still, it’s because of the simplistic nature of the plot that I admittedly don’t consider Atomic Blonde to be ‘as good’ as John Wick. However, I can’t deny that this is a solidly entertaining action thriller. It’s got a nice edge to it and, of course, it’s all highlighted by Charlize Theron’s excellent performance in the lead role. Now, for the record, I haven’t read the graphic novel that this is based on, The Coldest City, so I can’t really comment on how effective this was at adapting the source material. Though, from what I’ve heard, the graphic novel was a bit more focused on the espionage aspect of the story than its action sequences. Still, on a weekend where the internet is getting a bit too obsessed with a film that has gotten universally negative reviews (you know EXACTLY what film I’m talking about), thankfully this film is around to give audiences a good time.
Rating: 4/5
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