Atomic Blonde

'Atomic Blonde' is one of those movies that I can watch over and over again and it just doesn't lose its impact. When I saw the movie for the first time I had no expectations and I was more than convinced. Since then it is one of my favorite movies and that although it is certainly not a masterpiece.

In the intro, you already get a foretaste of the direction the movie is going to take, which is then consistently followed through. The movie doesn't lose its pace over the entire runtime. There is no real hole.

The entire atmosphere feels incredibly authentic. The whole thing is underpinned by a really stylish, cool and coherent soundtrack, which strongly underpins the images shown.

The only point of criticism is the plot. It seems a bit confused and essentially serves to explain why a character gets from A to B. The story isn't really complicated, but you still think to yourself at some points, just accept it and don't question it.

But you can turn a blind eye to that, because the actual plot is in the background for me here. The overall look and feel paired with the really strong fight choreography let you quickly overlook it.

And that brings us to the crucial point. The movie has incredibly strong fight scenes. The camera is close up throughout and all the fights look handmade. That's what I want to see and not cut-up action where you can't see anything or which is just bristling with GCI. Some action movies can take a leaf out of this book. Showing and not hinting is the motto here. One of the best scenes of the whole movie is a several minutes long plan sequence in a house. I find this impressive every time. In these moments, the movie reminds me of a reduced, well dosed John Wick, only the setting and the framework story appeals more to me personally.

All in all, 'Atomic Blonde' is a solid agent thriller, which can more than convince with its atmosphere, look and fight scenes. In terms of plot, familiar structures, motifs and sequences are used. If you can overlook that, then you can really have fun with the movie.

Atomic Blonde is the story of a British secret agent (Theron) who gets sent to East Germany around the time of the Berlin Wall removal. Her task - find the list of British agents that is apparently for sale and will endanger all of Britain's undercover agents.

The storyline is a bit hard to follow, purposely, which is the biggest negative. You are unsure who is a good guy or bad guy or something in between, or both, or neither. The mystery is supposed to build intrigue but it also builds confusion too.

It is clear that the Russians are the bad guys. James McAvoy delivers a great portrayal of the British agent on site who has the most info of anyone about the truth. But can he be trusted? Americans are involved, as well as the French. John Goodman also delivers as the CIA head, with Sofia Boutella (Star Trek Beyond) playing a sexy junior French agent.

The acting is outstanding. McAvoy seems crazy. Goodman is secretive. Theron is inspecting and questioning everything as she tries to discover the truth.

There is terrific use of colors and David Bowie music. The highlights are the fighting scenes that show just how tough Theron really is. Watch the Extra Features to learn all the training she put in to get in shape to kick butt. There is one long fight scene that spills into the stairway that will blow your mind.

The ending is a pretty good twist, which you may or may not suspect, since there is such big confusion about agents' loyalties. The director also leaves open the door for a sequel which I believe Theron has signed on for.

If you like a sexy, strong, somewhat violent spy movie, Atomic Blonde will blow you away. Enjoy!

Atomic Blonde revolves around a spy who has to find a list of double agents that is being smuggled into the West on the eve of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The film is directed by David Leitch and is written by Kurt Johnstad. You might recognize David Leitch from co-directing John Wick and serving as a stunt coordinator. Having him making his solo directional debut was something I looked forward to and he didn't disappoint. He brought a new story with a different protagonist and made something different but yet keeping the same quality. Charlize Theron was born to play this role, the dramatic part and the action part of the performance, she nailed it as Lorraine Broughton who are a top-level MI6 field agent. James McAvoy portrays David Percival, a maverick MI6 Berlin station chief who is assigned to assist Lorraine in her mission whilst John Goodman portrays Emmett Kurzfeld, a senior CIA agent working with MI6. The supporting cast has names like Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella, Roland Møller and Toby Jones. Charlize Theron served as a co-producer alongside starring in the lead role, a role which she trained alongside Keanu Reeves and a couple of trainers to be able to do the stunt work necessary for the role. Both Charlize Theron and James McAvoy are terrific in this film, their performances are quite mesmerizing and they totally make their spy characters believable.

Atomic Blonde is a stylistic action film with great looking sets and impressive costumes, cinematography is on point and so is the musical score and soundtrack. The editing and pacing is surprisingly excellent. They managed to edit an action sequence that was numerous of shots into a one take and that sequence was superb, truly entertaining, raw and realistic. It's the fight scenes that count - and they're astonishingly good, from a mano-a-mano beatdown involving Theron's stiletto heel and a thug's jugular vein to a climactic free-for-all in a swanky hotel suite where 99 Luftballons scores every gunshot and gut-punch. There's lots of sequences that you will love and Charlize Theron does a terrific job with it. Atomic Blonde is a spy thriller as much as it's an action film, overall a great film. I recommend it.

What a great nights entertainment. Clever, well acted, sexy and demanding, with everything that a spy/action movie should have but classier. DO NOT believe any of the pretentious reviews that look to bag this movie - it's great. Both leads are terrific.

The director who previously helmed John Wick does a good job of creating Eye popping visuals and guiding Charlize Theron (who put a lot of effort into the stunts) through her kickass character but unlike John Wick,this movie suffers from a lackluster script and halfway through I found myself not caring about the characters and the plot