Review: Atomic Blonde
Atomic Blonde is a high adrenaline spy thriller that is based off of the graphic novel The Coldest City. It is directed by David Leitch in his first credited feature film directing role (his work in John Wick went uncredited). You likely have seen some of his stunt work as he has been a stunt performer for 20 years before beginning to produce and direct.
You can definitely tell that David Leitch knows action. The movie barely stops for plot between the intense and wonderful fight sequences. The fight scenes are long, realistic and satisfying. Charlize Theron trained for months with multiple trainers to do as many of the stunts and fighting as possible – and you can tell that she was in there for most of the shots. She even cracked teeth while training for the role! – I know I was disappointed whenever the fighting stopped, it was fabulous! Kimbit
This is just a glimpse into the awesome fights in this movie.
Visually the movie had a distinct style which was reminiscent of the graphic novel it is based on. Neither of us has actually read the particular graphic novel this movie was based on however the movie just had a dark, graphic novel style. - I thought the shots were set up perfectly to give that graphic novel feel. JJ It fluctuated between grey tones in a lot of the fight scenes to intense neon colours during some bar scenes. The Coldest City was drawn all black and white so it’s likely that some of the colour choices were meant to reflect that without going the full route that the Sin City movies took.
The graphic novel was by written Anthony Johnston and illustrated by Sam Hart.
Now onto the pesky plot of Atomic Blonde. This is where our opinions differ a bit on this movie.
I went into this movie without knowing that it was meant to be a spy thriller, only knowing that Charlize Theron was going to be kick some major behind and that it was from a guy associated with John Wick; also known for his butt kicking. Overall I was delivered what I was expected and I came out of the movie not worrying too much about the plot. I will admit that the plot line seemed flimsy and that the end left a lot of people wondering why certain things happened. – Kimbit
The plot in Atomic Blonde left a lot to be desired. I can’t tell to be honest if the plot was too confusing or too simple. In the end I understand what happened, I just don’t really understand why. Unfortunately I felt like it all fell a little flat. It lacked depth but it did make up for it in really cool fight scenes and an abundance of overplayed 80s music. What I found was the biggest mystery in this mystery spy thriller was ‘why does James McAvoy’s outfit seem so familiar?’ I didn’t watch the trailer that many times…and then it hit me like a fight with your alter ego…Fight Club! – JJ
It’s truly uncanny…
To finish this review off, while this movie might not have had a strong plot or characters, it did have a strong female character. The movie never dumbed down the fights or the story to accommodate the fact that the main character is a woman. Other than a time where she uses her high heel to stab someone, the movie isn’t constantly reminding you that she is a woman. This was nice to see.
JJ’s score: I give it 2.5 ice baths out of 5. Basically a ‘meh’.
Kimbit’s score: I give it 3.5 boom box stomps out of 5.
