Atomic Blonde

Action thriller spy movies have been providing entertaining experiences for many decades. They are cliched and follow predictable troupes most audiences would associate with them such as agents of separate agencies pulling out double crosses on their fellow co-workers, convoluted storytelling while attempting to be complex and deep, cool gadgets used to stealth or combat, great action set pieces whether it's straight forward hand to hand combat, car chases, or insane shootouts, the main protagonist forming a relationship with an agent they encounter either from their own organization or a different one, and some very witty cheesy dialog. A key part of making this work involves the casting choice of the main lead conveying the appropriate attitude and conviction the genre desires (and even doing most of the stunts adds a big boost as well). The genre can be hit or miss in that regard due to a lackluster main lead and/or a terrible script doing a terrible job utilizing the aforementioned factors. Here we enter David Leitch, one of the directors of the action thriller John Wick and the individual directing the upcoming superhero comedy Deadpool 2, who has decided to move from the assassins world in the modern day of John Wick to the Cold War period of the new spy thriller, Atomic Blonde. The trailers for this new project had some risk of potentially affecting the experience with showing a display of the action scenes but looked intriguing by what was shown. Having heard mostly positive things about it from my sources, I was in the mood to dial it down after getting shell shocked this past summer from the large blockbusters and see if I can have a fun time with this action spy thriller. I entered the theater ready to see what experience I would end my summer movie extravaganza with and left the theater having enjoyed a female lead John Wick movie.

Plot: The story follows an M16 agent in 1989 as she's assigned to find a stolen list that contains information on all hidden agents from various organizations, including on those being double agents. This follows a good portion of the aforementioned cliches and can be pretty predictable in how the story is told. The format utilized here is where the main protagonist talks to her superiors about the mission she went through in Berlin. One of the issues that could affect your entertainment value of the film is the convoluted nature of the story. Considering that spy movies tend to have complicated stories at times with hidden agendas at hand, the complicated nature presented here feels small compared to that of other well known spy thrillers, though it could have been trimmed down just a little. The plot will require you to pay attention to details of what's going on with the events at hand. There's a nice 80s-esque style throughout the movie via the soundtrack and attire, which feels fresh and entertaining to kick back and relax to...as long as you can somewhat keep up with the story and are patient enough for the action scenes to come in. There are twists and turns in this spy thriller that are either predictable and/or confusing that might bother some audience members but can be forgivable in some cases when you are prepared to toss logic out the window and enjoy the fight choreography as well as the 80s motif accompanying it. Overall the plot in Atomic Blonde requires paying close attention to in order to understand the complicated nature of it while being supported by the 1980s appeal via the music and attire.

Fun trivia note: For those of you who have seen Captain America Civil War, there's a spot in Berlin you might recognize from one of the Black Panther scenes that's actually used here when the main protagonist first arrives in Berlin.

Characters: The characters to focus on are Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) and David Percival (James McAcvoy). Lorraine is an top-level M16 agent who has been sent by her superiors to find a stolen list somewhere in Berlin while having to deal with competition for it. Charlize gives a good sassy kind of performance in this leading role of a serious minded agent. While her character doesn't have any of kind backstory given to her that John Wick had, she's about on par with him in the stoic nature and determination to complete her mission (basically she's a female John Wick but without any puppies to kill or any personal cars worth stealing). David is a peculiar Berlin station chief who becomes an ally for Lorraine in her mission for the list. James is having a fun time in this eccentric character with his delightful over the top performance, which he deserves after going through serious roles in the recent years. Honorable mentions go to Delphine Lasalle (Sophia Boutella) for her likable performance she provides in her supporting role and her chemistry with Charlize in a few scenes (those of you who have seen this movie know what I'm referring to). Overall while the characters in Atomic Blonde aren't given any emotional depth or backstory, the actors give entertaining performances that range from sassy and stoic to delightful overacting in fulfilling the archetypes you would expect in spy thriller action movies to make up for it.

Action: The action carries an authentic feel to how the fight choreography plays throughout each scene, especially given the fact that Charlize Theron did most of the stunt work herself. One thing to keep in mind when comparing this to John Wick is that there's more realism applied to the situation where the longer the fight scene goes, the more exhausted and tired Lorraine will get as opposed to John shrugging off punches and bullets like an immortal vampire. There aren't that many fight scenes but they utilize the environment in creative ways. The fights are edited tightly enough to keep the scenes feel smooth and clear in experiencing what's going on. And similar to both John Wick movies, there's a fantastic action sequence that's created in one long take that pushes both the combatants and audience members to exhaustion in the struggling obstacles put against Lorraine in her mission that takes place around two thirds of the way through and is a must watch, which manages to potentially beat the club fight from John Wick. Overall the fight choreography is amazing and realistic in Atomic Blonde, which is made even better with Charlize Theron performing most of her actions scenes herself as well as having an excellent standout scene to lookout for.

Overall Consensus: While Atomic Blonde struggles a little with a convoluted story, it makes up for it with good leading performances, awesome action sequences, and a stylized 80s motif accompanying the entertaining experience. ⭑⭑⭑⭑

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors. You like spy thriller action movies. You don't mind stories that are a little convoluted and enjoy keeping up with them. You only care about the action scenes. You want to take a break from the big blockbusters. You don't mind action movies that have a little gore in them. You don't mind films that are predictable and cliched. You have seen John Wick and want to see how Atomic Blonde compares to it.

Reasons to avoid it: You don't like any of the aforementioned actors. You don't like spy thriller action movies. You hate movies with complicated stories. You hate predictable cliches.

Coming up next: Jubilant July has finally concluded on an entertaining note. It was a busy month complete with an underwhelming Spider-Man movie, an amazing sci-fi drama, an exhausting war action flick, and a stylized spy thriller. It was a fun experience to conclude the crowd of summer movies that have come and gone. From here on out, the flow of movies that will be covered here will slow down a little from the rapid rate the past few months. Tune in next time as Screening Spectacles will take a look at a film that's been rumored to be the best comedy of the year so far, Girls Trip!!!