Atomic Blonde (2017): Action - Shaken and Stirred

I’m not sure why this is, but I know I’m not alone in my attraction to kick-ass women action heroes as in, for example, the recent Wonder Woman movie starring Gal Gadot. And then there’s Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in the Alien series, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Uma Thurman's “The Bride” in the two Kill Bill movies,  Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games trilogy (quadrilogy?) and so on. It doesn’t hurt that all these women are good looking, but it’s not really that. It has to do with the fact that, rugged and courageous as they are, each of them shows us some human vulnerability in the midst of their travails and, as a result, comes across as more relatable than their often stony, unflappable male counterparts.

So it is with Charlize Theron in her tough-as-nails roles. As Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, Theron wore a tattered, dirty military-ish outfit (albeit one fitted up with lots of belts and other cool flourishes) that showed off not her beauty so much as her biceps. Shorn of most of her hair (her coiffure was essentially a buzz-cut), Furiosa was grimy, gritty and tough but also, underneath the dirt and grease, a person who felt emotional as well as physical pain.

As a female 007-type MI-6 agent in her new movie, Atomic Blonde, Theron’s Lorraine Broughton is sexy, suave, shrewdly smart, yet gritty and super-tough, too. She’s a looker and one hell of a fighter. Like James Bond, on whom she’s clearly modelled, she’s also ultra-cool.

Unlike James Bond, however, Broughton sometimes takes a moment to catch her breath and prepare herself emotionally for the task ahead, aware that it'll be life-threateningly dangerous. Like Bond, she can take on multitudes and always triumphs in the end; but afterwards, unlike the Bond films, we are allowed to see her bruises, scars, and post-battle fatigue. She evinces little pleasure in the rough and tumble violence and, for the most part, eschews the impulse to mimic the clever little quips  (“I guess he got the point”) of which James is so fond. For Broughton, the mission’s the thing, and it’s serious business.  (To be fair, Daniel Craig’s Bond is far less flippant than his predecessors.) 

   

Atomic Blonde wisely sets its story in 1989, during the fraught, final throes of the cold war. The film is told mostly in flashback, as a banged-up Broughton is being debriefed in London by her MI-6 chief (played by Toby Jones) and his CIA counterpart (John Goodman). In the face of their seemingly hostile skepticism, she tells her story, and we are transported to a wonderfully noirish Berlin, alive with spies, counter-spies, thugs and other dangerous and/or untrustworthy types. There are no cell phones or google searches to fall back on - just guile, experience, a healthy dose of paranoia, ruthlessness and a bit of luck. Based on the graphic novel series The Coldest City, the story has something to do with a British agent who’s been killed in connection with an ultra-secret list of soviet spies and related concerns about a possible KGB or Stassi double-agent. I’m not at all sure that the plot would hold together if closely examined, but it’s good enough to spell peril for Broughton, who’s sent to find the list and clear up the mess. The action is so fast and furious, we have little time to ponder issues of logical consistency. 

Director David Leitch knows his way in and around fighting sequences in action films. He has been an action choreographer and/or stunt coordinator in a score of action movies; and as an actor, he was a stunt-double in several pictures, including for Jean-Claude Van Damme. On Atomic Blonde he has paired with director of photography Jonathan Sela, an experienced action cinematographer (e.g. A Good Day To Die Hard) with whom Leitch worked previously on the action-thriller John Wick a couple years ago. Playing to the strengths of both, there are several pretty ferocious scenes of hand to hand combat in Atomic Blonde; some of which show Broughton as quite an inventive combatant in the style of, say, early Jackie Chan (although here it is not played for laughs). These action scenes are viscerally gripping and quite persuasive (even while honing to the convention that disallows henchmen from shooting our hero while she is grappling with their colleagues).  Broughton’s a good shot, too.

Atomic Blonde also stars James McAvoy as David Percival, the Berlin station chief and Broughton’s MI-6 contact there. He and the script do a nice job establishing early on that Percival is a cynical sleazeball, whose number one priority is always himself. It’s far from clear whether he’s actually a good guy or a bad guy.  There are also nice supporting roles for veteran Eddie Marsan as a person of interest known as Spyglass, and Sofia Boutella as beguiling, seductive French agent Delphine Lasalle, in whom Broughton takes, shall we say special interest.

This is a pretty fast paced film, with numerous twists and turns; and I must confess I did not anticipate the last one. As to why it’s called Atomic Blonde, I haven’t a clue except that “Platinum Blonde” was already taken (by a great and iconic Jean Harlow picture back in 1931). Speaking of names, Lorraine Broughton? Really? What kind of a name is that for an action hero?

I should add a word about the soundtrack, which is pretty awesome - made up of interestingly relevant pop songs from the era (mostly) including a couple from David Bowie [Under Pressure and Cat People (Putting Out Fire)], London Calling by The Clash, and tracks from Depeche Mode,  The Cure, Blondie and others. There’s no James Bond-like theme, but still.

I quite liked Atomic Blonde, as did my wife; so, something for everyone.  I’d put it right up there with Daniel Craig’s first two Bond films: Casino Royale and Quantum of Silence. I read that Craig has agreed to continue as Bond for a while, so who knows? Maybe Lorraine and James can hook up for a movie or two. That’d be fun!

1 hour 55 minutes.

Rated R - presumably for violence and sexual situations (some glimpses of breasts and butts)

Grade A-

In Wide Release