Publications
Partners
City Press film review: Atomic Blonde
Director: David Leitch
Starring: Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman
Rating: Two and a half stars
Have you ever watched a film and at the end of it asked yourself: “So what exactly was that supposed to be about?” Well you might have that moment at the end of Charlize Theron’s new spy film, Atomic Blonde.
Theron’s character, Lorraine Broughton, is an MI6 agent sent to Berlin just before the wall falls. A fellow agent was murdered and a lost list of the whereabouts of spies threatens to extend US-Russian hostilities. Lorraine’s task is to find the murderer and recover the list, with the help of MI6 station chief David Percival (James McAvoy).
With her ice-queen glamour, don’t expect to see Theron’s character do much espionage work. She mostly shows up impeccably dressed and attracts the attention of assassins, leading to scenes of spectacular displays of violence.
So it’s best not to follow the plot too closely ... there’s nothing there for you.
The stunts are quite amazing, although the action sequences carry on for a little too long – way too long actually. Most of the time, Lorraine fights men and they do not hold back at all. She can obviously defend herself, but the extreme violence she endures is a lot to handle.
Towards the end of the film, Lorraine has to protect a defector who has been wounded. While she’s doing that she also proceeds to partake in a brutal battle with a bunch of henchmen in a lift, and then down a staircase; they then go into an apartment, and then out of the apartment; then there’s a gun, then no gun; furniture gets moved all over the place; then they are back out on the street, then in a car. This over-the-top scene lasts for about five minutes.
It all rests on Theron being a kind of female James Bond. But it’s not even a good Bond-type film – the plot is too flimsy for it to work.
Channel24 also reviewed Atomic Blonde. Click here to read more!
