Underneath its ultraviolent spectacle, curls of cigarette smoke, freely flowing vodka and sexy neon lights, Atomic Blonde displays some level of self-awareness. Whether blasting the “How does it feel…?” refrain from New Order’s “Blue Monday” while a spy gets crushed by a car, or presenting far more on-the-nose death soliloquy (“What was the fucking game anyway?”), David Leitch’s hyper-stylized espionage action film knows that it’s a tad absurd. Unfortunately, by misplaying its too-infrequent moments of levity amid a convoluted plot featuring a den of double-crossing spies from no less than four governments, Atomic Blonde misses the opportunity to become something more than a slew of flashy fight scenes set to a killer ‘80s soundtrack.
Leitch banks on the allure of his star, Charlize Theron, and his own background in stuntwork, getting considerable mileage out of each. If this retro-cool shoot-em-up hews a bit closely to John Wick, there’s a good reason for that: Leitch co-directed that film, although he ultimately went uncredited for his efforts. Meanwhile, Theron solidifies her action-star chops after her heralded turn as Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, throwing down some impressive fight choreography when not casting steely looks or dropping sarcastic, world-weary one-liners.
Based on the graphic novel The Coldest City, the film takes place in a bifurcated Berlin in the waning days of Cold War. News footage periodically shows the mayhem as the Wall is about to come down, though a title card in the early going rightfully points out that “this is not that story.” Instead, a bevy of spies from a handful of different intelligence agencies are all clamoring for a MacGuffin: a vaguely defined list that’s evidently hidden within the clockwork of a designer watch. Theron plays Lorraine, an MI6 agent who’s even more resourceful at incorporating ordinary items into her hand-to-hand combat than she is a crack shot with a handgun. The bulk of the film is largely framed as one big flashback as a battered, bruised and chain-smoking Lorraine recounts a harrowing mission gone wrong to her British superior (Toby Jones) and a cantankerous CIA bigwig (John Goodman).
Along the way, the no-nonsense Lorraine develops an odd couple partnership of sorts with fellow agent David Percival (James McAvoy), whose nonchalant, sarcastic demeanor belies his keen sense of cunning. Lorraine lays waste to a small army of gruff KGB agents while trying to protect Russian snitch Spyglass (Eddie Marsan), who claims to have memorized the mysterious list, and she even briefly takes up a French lover, fledgling spy Delphine (Sofia Boutella). But Atomic Blonde hinges far more on its elaborately choreographed action set pieces than its actual plot. As Lorraine uses various household items as weapons, some of these scenes are no more physically impressive than what Melissa McCarthy accomplished in Spy. At other times, even the most cynical viewer would be hard-pressed to avoid losing themselves a bit in the kinetic spectacle, especially in an extended sequence when a bloodied Lorraine and similarly injured KGB henchman are left wobbling like drunks.
But peel back the fetishized fight scenes, neon lights and ‘80s soundtrack, and you’re not left with much. When one of the film’s own characters questions the point of the espionage game, how is an audience expected to care? You’re better off re-watching John Wick.
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