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‘Atomic Blonde’
(Focus Features)
By Lucas Allen
With the runaway success of “John Wick,” it’s natural that the public is craving more action characters with a knack for shooting bullets and punching people. In fact, that film’s co-director, David Leitch, goes solo for a new action character to start a new franchise. “Atomic Blonde” is adapted from a graphic novel that brings the hard-hitting, gritty style to the 1980s. Think of this new character as a female John Wick, who’s also one-half James Bond and one-half Jason Bourne.
Shortly before the fall of the Berlin wall in November 1989, MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is assigned to a very tough case by her superior Gray (Toby Jones). Her fellow agent and lover was killed while a secret list contained in a watch was stolen from him. She travels to Berlin, where she meets up with her contact David Percival (James McAvoy), who’s been working undercover. Right from the start, her investigation put her on deadly odds with both the German authorities and rogue KGB agents.
She then gains an ally in rookie French operative Delphine (Sofia Boutella), who has key information on the list’s whereabouts. However, Lorraine’s actions have attracted the attention of CIA agent Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman) especially during a time of turmoil. With time running out, she’ll have to figure out who’s really pulling the strings and retrieve the list before things spin out of control.
If you’re going into this just to watch an action movie, then you’ll end up with a very satisfying treat. Leitch employs plenty of the same filmmaking tricks he used on “John Wick” to create stylish action scenes that are really appealing to the senses. The highlight is the extended stairway fight sequence wonderfully shot and carefully edited in one take. Adding to it is the pleasurable soundtrack full of 1980s hits by David Bowie, A Flock of Seagulls, Peter Schilling and ‘Til Tuesday, to name a few. Much like “Baby Driver,” the choice of music helps bring a sense of excitement to these scenes that alone is worth tapping your feet to.
The plot on the other hand could have used a little more brain power to compete with the likes of Bond and Bourne. It gets a tad predictable when you can tell what kind of twists it’ll have, like who’s going to turn up dead and who’ll emerge as the main bad guy. But if “John Wick” has taught us anything, it’s that plot doesn’t matter as long as the movie is still entertaining. With that logic, this movie succeeds.
Theron delivers her strongest action role to date with enough charisma, sex appeal and commitment to the material that offers a new take on the action heroine. It’s evident that the Oscar-winning actress is taking her success with “Mad Max: Fury Road” to the next level of her action career, to the point she may become the first female James Bond. McAvoy also gives one of his best performances as an agent who may or may not be on the side of good entirely.
“Atomic Blonde” caps off a great summer season of action movies with intelligence and genuine emotion. It proves that there’s always room for new action characters as long as studios find new interesting ways to satisfy audiences’ appetite for more.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: R (for sequences of strong violence, language throughout, and some sexuality/nudity)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.5 Stars (Out of Four)
