Atomic Blonde is John Wick with a somewhat less sympathetic female lead and an unnecessarily convoluted plot.
Atomic Blonde stars Charlize Theron as secret agent Lorraine Broughton. Set in 1989 Berlin, as the Wall is ready to come down, the film follows Broughton through action and intrigue as she attempts to recover a secret list of Western covert agents before it is sold on the black market or recovered by the Soviets. As she navigates the Berlin underworld, she must decide who to trust and who to kill, as she works alongside fellow British agent David Percival (James MacAvoy), French agent Delphine (Sofia Boutella), and a whole network of questionable contacts. In the end, will she survive to recover the list? Will she learn the identity of the double agent who has supposedly been working both sides? Will she get revenge for the death or her former lover, a secret agent who originally attempted to extract the list from Berlin? Will she get revenge when a new lover is killed? Will she turn out to actually be the double agent? Will she turn out to be something else altogether? Will the audience care one way or the other?
Atomic Blonde looks pretty good. It has plenty of style, a decent 80's soundtrack, and Theron is hot as usual. There are some very good extended action scenes, and the fights are generally good, although there are a few spots where they feel very choreographed.
Unfortunately, it's basically all style over substance. Unlike John Wick, who at least was getting revenge for his dead dog and stolen car, it's unclear why Broughton is doing any of the things she's doing or taking any of the risks she's taking. In general, Theron plays the character as a cold aloof professional, but then there are brief and unconvincing attempts to show her as emotional and vulnerable. It's also not clear that she's actually any good at her job of spying, since she basically just goes from place to place, where bad guys show up and she has to fight them. When we get to the end, there are a number of gaping plot holes, and it's unclear what really happened. Moreover, it's unclear whether you really care enough to try to puzzle things out.
Atomic Blonde has plenty of foul language, and John Wick style violence. It also has a bit of nudity and a short sex scene with Theron and Boutella. It's definitely not a kids movie. I'm sure they plan to make sequels to this film. The marketing has been trying to set up this character as the female James Bond. It's not really obvious where they would take the character, as she's not particularly heroic or sympathetic.
If you're looking for a Wick style action-fest, and don't really care if the plot makes much sense, then Atomic Blonde might be for you. If you want to see Theron and Boutella topless, then this might be for you. If you want a smart spy action thriller, then just go into this film with managed expectations.
Slowguy
(insert pithy phrase here...)
Atomic Blonde stars Charlize Theron as secret agent Lorraine Broughton. Set in 1989 Berlin, as the Wall is ready to come down, the film follows Broughton through action and intrigue as she attempts to recover a secret list of Western covert agents before it is sold on the black market or recovered by the Soviets. As she navigates the Berlin underworld, she must decide who to trust and who to kill, as she works alongside fellow British agent David Percival (James MacAvoy), French agent Delphine (Sofia Boutella), and a whole network of questionable contacts. In the end, will she survive to recover the list? Will she learn the identity of the double agent who has supposedly been working both sides? Will she get revenge for the death or her former lover, a secret agent who originally attempted to extract the list from Berlin? Will she get revenge when a new lover is killed? Will she turn out to actually be the double agent? Will she turn out to be something else altogether? Will the audience care one way or the other?
Atomic Blonde looks pretty good. It has plenty of style, a decent 80's soundtrack, and Theron is hot as usual. There are some very good extended action scenes, and the fights are generally good, although there are a few spots where they feel very choreographed.
Unfortunately, it's basically all style over substance. Unlike John Wick, who at least was getting revenge for his dead dog and stolen car, it's unclear why Broughton is doing any of the things she's doing or taking any of the risks she's taking. In general, Theron plays the character as a cold aloof professional, but then there are brief and unconvincing attempts to show her as emotional and vulnerable. It's also not clear that she's actually any good at her job of spying, since she basically just goes from place to place, where bad guys show up and she has to fight them. When we get to the end, there are a number of gaping plot holes, and it's unclear what really happened. Moreover, it's unclear whether you really care enough to try to puzzle things out.
Atomic Blonde has plenty of foul language, and John Wick style violence. It also has a bit of nudity and a short sex scene with Theron and Boutella. It's definitely not a kids movie. I'm sure they plan to make sequels to this film. The marketing has been trying to set up this character as the female James Bond. It's not really obvious where they would take the character, as she's not particularly heroic or sympathetic.
If you're looking for a Wick style action-fest, and don't really care if the plot makes much sense, then Atomic Blonde might be for you. If you want to see Theron and Boutella topless, then this might be for you. If you want a smart spy action thriller, then just go into this film with managed expectations.
Slowguy
(insert pithy phrase here...)