Film Review - Atomic Blonde (15)

I chose this life, and someday it's going to get me killed. But not today.

Atomic Blonde is one of the better surprises of the summer - a bruising spy thriller set in late-80s Berlin, which cements Charlize Theron's reputation as a formidable action heroine. Neither its plot or its dialogue are particularly fresh, but the style, the action sequences and that central performance do a hell of a lot to compensate.

Theron plays Lorraine Broughton, an MI6 spy enlisted to retrieve a stolen list of double-agents, which threatens to extend the Cold War. Days before the dismantling of the Berlin Wall she arrives in the city, armed with impressive combat skills and the mantra 'trust no one'. It's good advice - from the off she finds her life vigorously under threat. There's a mole in the system (there's always a mole) and to complicate matters a Stasi officer (Eddie Marsan), who has memorized the list, is trying not to get killed before defecting to the West. Our girl has her work cut out, but damn, is she up to the task.

Atomic Blonde is for starters a wonderful-looking film. Berlin circa 1989 is filtered steely-blue and lit with neon. This is a frost-bitten city with a sexy, dangerous night-life, its cold beauty caught in each shrewdly-directed frame. Lorraine fits right in. Her character is ripped bloody and ruthless from graphic novel The Coldest City and is associated very literally with ice from the earliest scenes. Her look is instantly iconic (smoking hasn't appeared this cool in a long time), but this is more than mere fetishization. What Theron brings to the role is truly astonishing...

That this woman is a face-crunching, bone-cracking force of nature never feels in doubt. In the fight sequences - some abrupt and efficient, others long and gruelling - her chilly poise gives way to something focused and feral. The camera refuses to cut away either. No multi-shot trickery here - the hand-to-hand combat is brutal, and choreographed with panache. A chase sequence through the streets of Berlin is filmed in the same unflinching style. Theron matches the production team with her commitment in every scene. 

Nor is the film any James Bond rip-off. There's Cold War intrigue along with an element of romance utterly appropriate to the central character. Toby Jones and John Goodman supply the John Le Carre-style spy elements and James McAvoy has a whale of a time as Theron's sleazy Berlin contact. Atomic Blonde also comes in second to Baby Driver for Top Summer Playlist, its action pumped up with a stream of Euro-hits from the era. 

With the tumbling of the Wall as historical background, this movie is both nostalgic and state-of-the-art. It's very violent (am I getting that across?), but in a darkly gratifying way. Theron rises above tawdry male fantasy and becomes a bona fide action hero. Aloof super-spy Lorraine Broughton deserves, like Bond, to be back.

 Gut Reaction: Increased vital signs, adrenaline rush in the latter stages accompanied by much wincing.

Ed's Verdict: Atomic Blonde's use of spy tropes manages to be both standard and confusing; it's an undeniably exhilarating experience though, and Charlize Theron (I've tried to avoid saying it) kicks ass.