view_and_review Charlize Theron is great in everything she does and this movie was no exception. I've never seen her in a role such as this but I'd say she pulled it off.This was a high octane spy-vs.-spy movie. When you aren't trying to figure out who all the players are and their roles you are entertained by some butt kicking. This movie had some incredible fight scenes. Theron had to be in remarkable shape to do these long, almost Daredevil-esque, fight scenes. And don't think that her character, Lorraine, was just running through faceless goons like Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon. It was give and take: she would give some serious licks and take some serious licks as well. They made a point of showing just how badly battered she was after a few brutal dust-ups.But the fighting alone couldn't save this movie. I think it suffered from a weak script in which they tried to be too clever. Within the story Lorraine is tasked with acquiring a list of names of spies stationed in Berlin in '89. Obviously, a list such as this is very sensitive and valuable, especially considering that one of the spies is a double agent. Once you get into double agent talk a plot can get kind of wild with crosses and double crosses and what's really going on.My only other gripe, which may paint me as a prude, is that I had no need for the soft core girl on girl action between Theron and Sofia Boutella. I guess they were trying to depict Lorraine as they would any male super-spy by having her creatively beat people up, deftly use firearms, dress chic, and have sex with a beautiful girl. Thanks, but no thanks. I'm sure this appeals to the 18-25 male audience but I'm past that demographic and I was never much into that anyway.Theron was great but the movie wasn't and that happens. There were other big names in it: James McAvoy and John Goodman. They did their due diligence but I still say they could only make the movie slightly above average.

a_chinn From the uncredited co-director of "John Wick" comes an action film of equal badassery. Charlize Theron is dynamite in this Cold War action film, where she plays an undercover MI6 agent tasked with recovering a missing list of undercover agents. The plot is perfunctory at best, but it does serve to take Theron through a 1989 East and West Berlin right before the wall came down, featuring 80s punks, neon drenched nightclubs, and a killer soundtrack that ranges from The Clash, to David Bowie, to Queen, and loads more. "Atomic Blonde" would have been a solid action film without the Cold War 80s setting, but adding this retro element turned this film's cool factor up to eleven. Theron is amazingly 80s cool with her short hair and go-go boots, but shines most strongly when she's kicking ass (she actually did a majority of her fighting and stunt work on the film). Enough cannot be said of how much Theron adds to this film. She's an Oscar calibre of actress starring in an unabashedly popcorn film, which greatly elevates "Atomic Blonde" from if the filmmakers had simply cast a pretty face like Milla Jovovich or even legit badasses like MMA fighter Gina Carano (everyone should watch her film "Haywire" though). It also helps that you have a solid supporting cast that includes Toby Jones, John Goodman, and James McAvoy as a terrifically sleazy undercover agent. The other hero of this film is director David Leitch, who bring the same level of relentlessly intense action he brought to the John Wick films. The fight scenes and shoots outs are as fast as a Hong Kong action film, but also embrace the more muscular American approach to action films, which adds up to a style of action that feels like something wholly new (Kurt Wimmer's "Gun-Fu" in "Equilibrium" and "Ultraviolet" was the last new style of film action I can recall that felt like something new and not tried before). As with the best action films, the action builds, starting smaller at first to a quite impressive climactic action sequence. I think the apartment fight sequence that gives the appearance of being one long continuous shot is the most impressive action sequence of the film, but "Atomic Blonde" is filled with memorable action scenes. Overall, even though the script is heavy on plot cliches and is short on character development, who really cares when the you have Charlize Theron taking out rooms full of dudes in knee-high boots to awesome 80s tracks!

blanchjoe While Atomic Blond ( not the best title ) is "not" a true trade-craft based classic, such as Tinker, Tailor, Solder, Spy, it is a well developed and complex story that requires the viewer to not make too many snap judgements in plat or characters. What this is besides a great story, and a good Hollywood Film, is at its heart a powerful acting vehicle for Charlize Theron to stretch her acting chops, and well worth watching solely for this reason.

jmudd-40-12804 Very good Cold War spy movie. Outstanding soundtrack.