In many path , aspects of Atomic Blonde will be really intimate to devotee of eminent - octane action movies . It invests a lot in challenging set pieces and fight choreography , and feature many predictable fictitious character archetypes . But it manages to tie together its Cold War set and character electric arc into a enceinte theme very , very well .
accommodate from Antony Johnston and Sam Hart ’s Oni Press comedian The Coldest City and guide by David Leitch — who ’s signed on for Deadpool 2 — Atomic Blonde screened last night in Austin at SXSW . It unfolds in flashback , as Lorraine Broughton ( Charlize Theron ) , an elite secret agent in Britain ’s MI6 intelligence division debriefs her superiors about a 1989 mission to excerpt tender information from Berlin . From the first , Broughton comes across as icily aloof , even as it ’s shown that she had a romantic past times with a mangle workfellow . She seems to only care about completing her commission . That finish get complicated when she has to partner with David Percival ( James McAvoy ) , an undercover spy who ’s embrace the clandestine , anything - go chaos roiling through East and West Berlin a little too warmly .
The end of the Cold War serves as the backdrop for the movie , which sprinkles real - world news show news report as reminders of the political stake that hang in the balance for the American , British , and Russian governments . Glimpses of punk , hip - record hop , and skate acculturation tote up texture to the transactions and the repressing response to them makes Berlin feel like a severe place that ’s quick to explode at any moment . It ’s present as a clip when the ethnical ground is unclear and traditional dedication ca n’t be trust . Late ’ 80s pop is used to great force and one of the movie ’s good succession is set to George Michael ’s “ Father Figure . ”
Director David Leitch worked on John Wick before Atomic Blonde and , in terms of its approaching to action mechanism and aesthetic , this new celluloid operate on the paired ending of the spectrum . The fight theatrical production does n’t make out across as slick , suave , or elegantly choreograph . Instead , face - offs happen with brutal familiarity that harkens back to old - school Hong Kong military action drama . Theron throws herself into Atomic Blonde ’s conflict tantrum with sensational ferocity , have herself get flung , dash , and bludgeoned in fashion that look all too material . She gives better than what she get , though , as seen in a six - minute long bash in an East Berlin apartment that will likely go down as a classic movie engagement . As Percival , McAvoy does n’t get as much of a limelight in the activity department but makes up for it by making his character luridly soft and seductive . John Goodman does great keep going work as a CIA honcho that Broughton barely tolerates , fill up the role with huffy administrative official tics that make him a perfect foil .
What ’s stuck with me after seeing Atomic Blonde is the portrait it paints of the emotional decay that happens to espionage agents . It ’s not virtuous territorial dominion for the tops - undercover agent writing style but Theron and McAvoy make the core conceit add up to life in wary , electric functioning . Everyone ’s paranoid and twitchy with skittish energy and there ’s a sour astringency that moves through the entire plastic film . All the film ’s major characters wrap up modify by the shifting political sands of this Cold War flection point , and Atomic Blonde finds surprising depth by dig into the experiential considerations of spycraft , questioning precisely how and when a good undercover agent who does terrible things can stop believe that they ’re doing good .
Atomic Blonde will have a wide release this summer .
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