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Atomic Blonde -- a review


Atomic Blonde stars Charlize Theron as Lorraine Broughton, a secret agent working for MI6 (the real life British intelligence service that the fictional James Bond also works for). Lorraine is sent to Berlin after a fellow MI6 agent (who was also her lover) winds up dead. Taking place in 1989, Berlin is a pretty wild place to be, what with the Iron Curtain crumbling, threatening to also bring down the wall that had kept West Berlin separated from East Berlin for almost thirty years. Teaming up with David Percival (James McAvoy), the MI6 station chief in Berlin, Lorraine ducks bullets, cops, and takes on countless assassins in her search for the truth--as well as a list of spies and double agents that the East Germans, the Russians and the CIA are all on the hunt for.


Having the story take place just at the end of the Cold War was a great idea, for Berlin--always a dangerous place for spies even during the calmer days of the Cold War--now feels like a bomb that’s about to go off at any moment without warning, with people crowding the streets, stridently protesting the end of the constant tension they’ve been living under. But the tension in Atomic Blonde is also nice and tight, thanks to director David Leitch, who co-directed John Wick and is now working on Deadpool 2. Leitch, a former stuntman, not only keeps the tension flowing, but he also brings the fight scenes to another level with a sheer intensity and on-point camera work and editing that’s truly a sight to behold.



Charlize is utterly believable as a bad-ass secret agent who can hold her own against a soviet hit squad, as well blending into any swanky high-society function. But to say that she’s a female James Bond would be an insult, because she manages to create a convincing spy who’s extremely sympathetic. James McAvoy, fresh off of his great role in Split, is also very good here as Percival, who comes off more of a frat boy/black marketeer who’s enjoying his job way too much. The rest of the cast is also superb, with John Goodman as a CIA chief, Toby Jones (The Mist) as Lorraine’s befuddled MI6 handler, and Sofia Boutella (Star Trek Beyond) as an alluring femme fatale.


Extremely violent and loaded with curses that would make a sailor blush, Atomic Blonde is a hard ‘R’ that’s not for the kiddies. But fans of spy movies, as well as action films should enjoy this very much. I know I did. And taking place in the ‘80s meant that the film also had a killer soundtrack from that era. This led to Atomic Blonde reuniting me with a long-lost song that I loved listening to back then, Voices Carry. A great, fun action film featuring the cinematic goddess Charlize that also reintroduces me to old, beloved music? To paraphrase a line from James McAvoy here: Atomic Blonde, I think I f**king love you…. --SF






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