Atomic Blonde

Stylish, eye-popping, bouncy. The story, acting, music are energetic and fun. The plot is not realistic even though it references some of the realities of a time and place: Berlin, Germany, 1989. (I like the disclaimer at the beginning that gives the historical background and then says, This is not that story.)

What this is, of course, is an adaptation of a graphic novel, "The Coldest City". The title "Atomic Blonde" is rather campy, though it suggests the nuclear threat that was on everyone's mind at the time.

Reality, also of course, need not apply here. I agree with those who say that this is the answer to the call for a female James Bond. This probably better than the Broccoli people would do it. It is amusing that people - including me - pair this movie with "Red Sparrow" because the latter movie is actually more realistic than this one in its use of a female spy who uses sex first and violence sparingly because she knows she can't sustain a physical fight with ten men (or even one powerful man) without a gun or at least sharp objects.

Charleze Theron is a kick-butt fantasy. She can do anything physical that she has to. Not only fending off multiple male attackers but jumping off of balconies with makeshift ropes and pulleys and counterweights made out of bad guys.

I liked the twists in the plot and the surprise ending. It is part of the fun.

Loraine Broughton navigates a world where she quickly realizes that everybody is out to betray everybody else, and somebody has decided to have everybody gang up on her. Does she whine about it? Only a little. Mostly she just deals with it by shooting or kicking somebody in the head.

The spycraft is a bit contrived not to say outright laughable. Somebody does not understand that the purpose of a code name is to obscure the person or thing the spies are talking about. So "Spyglass" is a very bad code name for a spy or asset. And "the list" is a very bad code name for a maguffin that is, in fact, a list. (I recently read a spy novel by a real life spy in which an operative's code name is "Tulip". See the difference?)

My pet peeves with some critics are that 1) The present generation did not invent feminism. That is not necessarily a thing that is anachronistic about this movie. In the 1980s, women were already making headway into previously male-dominated professions. 2) This movie was not an ad for tobacco but a reflection of how much a lot of people still smoked in the '80s.

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

Gripping and hair-rising film with plenty of unstopped action , crossfire , overwhelming fights and confusing pace by means of flashbacks. It concerns the crown jewel of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service , Agent Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is equal parts spycraft, sensuality and savagery, willing to deploy any of her skills to stay alive on her impossible mission. Sent alone into Berlin to deliver a priceless dossier out of the destabilized city, she partners with embedded station chief David Percival (James McAvoy) to navigate her way through the deadliest game of spies. In a pre-wall fall Berlin she meets enemy agents and double-agents , most of them do not know each other and supposedly have different targets , but nothing could be further from reality, since their missions intersect in ways that not even they suspect . There , Lorraine's forced into action and steadily butchering his unrelenting enemies , while inching ever closer to the long-awaited final denouement . Later on , she is brought in to be debriefed by MI6 executive Eric Gray (Toby Jones) , CIA agent Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman) and Chief 'C (James Faulkner) about her just-finished mission to Berlin. Under those circumstances, as both sides want the list desperately, and she's mercilessly pursued . Talents can be overrated !.

An attractive movie with strong struggles , kinetic energy , very high body-count , twists and turns . In the purest style of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Atomic Blonde is all action, with charismatic , bizarre characters , explicit violence and a narrative structure with continuous time jumps . The picture based on the Oni Press graphic novel series "The Coldest City" written by Antony Johnston and illustrated by Sam Hart with screenplay by Kurt Johnstad . It's an action-packed film with an engaging mingle of suspense , shootouts , martial arts , gun-play and bloody struggles . The plot is complex and messy at times , it is due to it jumps between the debrief room and flashbacks to Lorraine's time in Berlin . This is a bone-chilling thriller with non-stop action , including impressive fighting with a lot of blood and gore . It's a mindless but enjoyable for thriller aficionados of the old style with a twisted intrigue about Cold War , but adding some new technical being made by means of digital computer generator as well as expert stunts . Abundant fist-fights and lethal fights in which arms and body parts are slice off here and there and limbs are slit open everywhere or blasted apart . Of course , highlights of the film are the impressive and groundbreaking fights with lots of blood dropping here and there . Stars Charlize Theron who did her own stunts , giving an acceptable acting as an undercover MI6 agent who is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents. Together with Theron, other good actors are part of the ensemble cast in the film with a lot of nice and familiar players , such as : James McAvoy as Percival , Eddie Marsan as Spyglass , John Goodman , Toby Jones , James Faulkner , Sofia Boutella , Roland Møller, Bill Skarsgård, Jóhannes Jóhannesson , Til Schweiger, Sam Hargrave and Barbara Sukowa.

It displays a moving and intrusive musical score by Tyler Bates , including modern disco music. As well as colorful and brilliant -though dark- cinematography by cameraman Jonathan Sela . The motion picture was competently directed by David Leitch , who began his career as Pitt's stunt double in The Fight Club. In fact , on the martial arts circuit, he met Chad Stahelski with whom has co-directed some films .Leitch who was living in LA, starting his career as a stuntman. Leitch is a martial artist, skilled in several arts such as: Muay Thai, Shootwrestling, boxing, wrestling, movie fights, and was a national competitor in Kickboxing. Leitch is well known producer/director of box office films , such as : John Wick (2014) , Deadpool: No Good Deed (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) and Atomic Blonde (2017). Rating : 5.5/10 . Acceptable and passable , but neither extraordinary nor notable . The pic with appeal to Charlize Theron fans.

Action - tick One shot fight scene - tick Great soundtrack - tick Atmospheric- tick Charlize - tick tick boom

I developed a major girl crush on Charlize after watching this.

That is all.

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.