Director David Leitch
Genre Action | Mystery | Thriller
Cast Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, Eddie Marsan, John Goodman
Rating R
Release Date July 28th, 2017
“An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.”
Atomic Blonde is a spy thriller from director David Leitch, the actor and stunt coordinator for films like Fight Club, 300, The Bourne Ultimatum, and many others. This is his first solo directorial debut. The film is based on Antony Johnston’s 2002 graphic novel The Coldest City. Charlize Theron and her production company Denver and Delilah Productions were sent the unpublished graphic novel 5 years prior, and Theron immediately decided this would be a passion project of hers. The cast includes Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, Eddie Marsan, and John Goodman.
A sexy Charlize Theron heats up the Cold War in Atomic Blonde, and she is one blonde bombshell not to be messed with. This film benefited from a great deal of advertising and a gigantic marketing budget, and it was on my radar very early on. Each and every trailer added to the seemingly endless fun factor for this spy thriller. I am a little late getting this review posted but I did see Atomic Blonde on the first night, and I was quite pleased. The acting was top notch, the fight scenes were amazing, and my favorite aspect of the film aside from my undeniable attraction to Charlize Theron was the action sequences that took advantage of a stellar 80’s soundtrack. A few scenes sync the start of the music and the action perfectly, and for my money those scenes were pretty damn cool. Now I’m not talking to the level of Baby Driver or anything like that, but still a very creative addition. The plot did feel unnecessarily convoluted at times which does take away from the overall impact of the film, but luckily the pros far outweigh the cons. The stunts in Atomic Blonde are absolutely incredible from top to bottom and all of the stunt coordinators deserve a great deal of credit. This film has the John Wick feel to it which is undoubtedly high praise.
Atomic Blonde includes a stellar cast lead by a performance from Charlize Theron worthy of a standing ovation. I watched some footage on the training Theron did to prepare for the film and in a nutshell she refused to back down from a challenge when it came to the stunts the film required. Her determination and dedication to the role and the authenticity of the film allowed the director and stunt coordinators the ability to push the envelope, ensuring some pretty amazing action sequences throughout the film. Starring alongside Theron was the extremely versatile Scotland born actor, James McAvoy. I personally thought McAvoy's role in the thriller Split was easily one of his most impressive on-screen performances- and he kicks things into high gear once again with Atomic Blonde. As an actor, McAvoy's ability to fully immersive himself in a role is tough to match. He literally becomes his character and whether that character is easy to love or easy to hate, or maybe a little of both, you can be sure you will feel strongly one way or the other after yet another very convincing performance from one of Hollywood's premier talents. John Goodman plays a very small yet effective role, and the same goes for Toby Jones. I also enjoyed Eddie Marsan's performance, and felt that he was able to take full advantage of a crucial role. He has a long list of acting credits but I personally recognize him from the Showtime series Ray Donovan.
Atomic Blonde is a stylishly shot, adrenaline inducing 2 hours of quality filmmaking. David Leitch is successful in his solo directorial debut and I really appreciated how he wasn’t scared to take a few chances, which worked out in his favor. At its core Atomic Blonde is top-notch, bringing to the table all of the necessary ingredients of a high quality Hollywood film. I still feel that the writing could have been slightly better, or perhaps the final edits for the film could have been handled a bit differently, but I honestly feel like I am splitting hairs. If you’ve seem the trailers for Atomic Blonde, enjoyed John Wick, or any of Leitch’s previous work for that matter, you will be more than pleased by his latest film and I am confident it will become a classic in what has become somewhat of a niche genre as of late.
